Going underground: Israel must fortify its vital infrastructure before the next war - opinion

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel argues Israel must establish a national directorate to move vital military and civilian infrastructure underground, citing enemy use of the underground domain and the Nagel Committee's recommendations. He notes two former committee members now in key decision-making positions should advance the project.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel argues that Israel must establish a national directorate to move vital military and civilian infrastructure underground, learning from enemies who have mastered the underground domain in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. He writes that the Swords of Iron war and recent rounds of fighting with Iran have highlighted the damage kinetic strikes can inflict on above-ground assets, affecting IDF continuity of operations and normal life. The Nagel Committee on the Defense Budget recommended a national project for underground solutions, and two former committee members now in key positions—Col. (res.) Talia Lankri, elected to the Knesset on the Yisrael Beytenu list, and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Mahran Prozenfer, director of the Budget Department at the Finance Ministry—should advance the issue. Nagel notes that responsibility for protecting national infrastructure falls between the cracks, with no single body overseeing the full picture. He recommends locating essential infrastructure underground or inside mountains using tunnels, citing falling tunneling costs and successful international examples of underground fuel storage. The article lists core principles: developing a national concept for continuity of operations, mapping existing critical infrastructure, and deciding whether to relocate or build secondary underground facilities.