Shock Video Imagines Iran Nuclear Attack

An apocalyptic vision of Israel coming under nuclear attack has been portrayed in a video, which its creator warned could become reality if Iran's atomic programme is not halted soon.

The date is February 2013 and a huge mushroom cloud rises from a nuclear explosion as war planes streak across the skies.

The short video, complete with disaster movie special effects, has already had 100,000 hits on YouTube where it has been posted under the title "Israel's Last Day".

It is the work of amateur Israeli filmmaker Ronen Barany who said: "It took Hitler five or six years to wipe out six million Jews.

"Ahmadinejad will do it in five or six minutes with one or two bombs. That's why I want to wake up the world."

The debate over the threat posed by Iran has dominated public debate in the Jewish state for years.

But in recent months the talk of a possible pre-emptive military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities has reached fever pitch , leading some Israelis to plan for the consequences of the predicted retaliation by Iran and its allies.

There is now a waiting list for government provided gas masks, and the authorities in towns and cities across the country have posted details of the available bomb shelters.

Many Israeli houses and apartment buildings, including Mr Barany's have group shelters down in the basements.

But in a sign that, like most Israelis, he is not yet feeling any real sense of panic, he admitted when he showed Sky News the dark sealed room, piled high with old furniture, that he had no plans to prepare it for use just yet.

"It's actually only the second time I've been down here, but my son is practising drills to go to the shelters at school," he said.

Opinion polls suggest the Israeli public is divided over the wisdom of striking against Iran, with most favouring a diplomatic rather than a military solution.

But the same polls show the majority believe a nuclear Iran would pose an existential threat to the state of Israel.

Israel's leaders have made it clear they will not allow Iran to reach that point.

This leaves the big question as to how loud the clock is ticking and whether any decision has been made to attack .

There have been numerous reports - many of them quoting unnamed Israeli officials - suggesting Israel intends to strike Iran's nuclear facilities before the end of this year.

But all of the leaks may be part of a plan. "I wouldn't be too taken in by all of the bellicose rhetoric," said David Horovitz, editor of the online newspaper Times of Israel.

"It is in Israel's interests to let the world think that it is prepared to strike, precisely because it may not really want to do it," Mr Horovitz said.

"Those who know what's going on don't talk," a senior Israeli official told me referring to all of the leaked reports of timetables. "And those who speak don't know," he added.

So military action might be imminent or it might be a distant, last option only being trumpeted to add to the diplomatic pressure on Iran and to convince countries like Russia to get on board in imposing sanctions.

The only certainty is that if Israel does intend to strike against Iran it will not announce the date first.