IDF Intel. Chief Shlomi Binder's crusade to block Iran from getting nukes - exclusive
How does the IDF's top intelligence official see Hezbollah, the Mecca deal, and AI challenges?
From the mid-1990s until August 2024, a consistent mission was undertaken by top Mossad and IDF officials to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. With the arrival of Shlomi Binder as the Military Intelligence chief in August 2024, he has taken on this crusade with an unparalleled tenacity in the history of these organizations.
Binder's leadership led to the destruction of Natanz, Isfahan, and numerous other locations, providing critical intelligence that aided the US in their bombing of Fordow in June 2025. As major-general, he has also orchestrated the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and mapped out Iran’s ballistic missile and wider military capabilities.
After the 2025 and 2026 wars, Iran's nuclear weapons program has been significantly damaged, with no centrifuges enriching uranium and most of its more enriched uranium now inaccessible. Additionally, the regime's nuclear facilities have been either destroyed or rendered inoperable by the 2025-2026 strikes. This leaves Iran with no active program, as opposed to decades of expansion without contraction.
However, there are lingering concerns about the future of Iran's nuclear program. While most of the 20,000 centrifuge fleet was destroyed or rendered unusable, a significant number of centrifuges survived deep underground. There is concern that Iran could salvage these centrifuges and potentially weaponize enough uranium for a bomb. Furthermore, there are worries that the Iranians may attempt to clandestinely extract more enriched uranium from the rubble and underground, evading surveillance.
While Binder believes Iran is unlikely to outsmart American and Israeli intelligence, he does not want to understate their resourcefulness. Thus, the focus now is on weapons group facilities, including those for converting enriched uranium into metal and hemispheres for nuclear warheads. This aspect is crucial because even large quantities of weaponized uranium are useless without the ability to deliver it over 1,000 kilometers to Israeli territory.
Binder's top priority is to prevent Tehran from rebuilding these weapons group facilities, which so far, the regime has not accomplished.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
