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In an interview conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and published by The Daily Beast on Friday, Mr. Barak was asked if there was any way Israel could go to war with Iran over what the West believes is a nuclear weapons program without dragging in the war-weary United States.

Mr. Barak replied that there were more than just the two options — of full-scale war or allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons capability — in the event that sanctions and diplomacy failed.

"What we basically say is that if worse comes to worst, there should be a readiness and an ability to launch a surgical operation that will delay them by a significant time frame and probably convince them that it won't work because the world is determined to block them," he said.

Under orders from the White House, Mr. Barak added, "the Pentagon prepared quite sophisticated, fine, extremely fine, scalpels," referring to the ability to carry out pinpoint strikes.

Mr. Barak did not specify what those "scalpels" were. But there has been a broad effort at the White House, the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies to develop an overlapping series of options that could set back, though probably not halt, Iran's nuclear progress.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the report, but a senior defense official said: "The U.S. military constantly plans for a range of contingencies we might face around the world, and our planning is often quite detailed." The official added, "That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone."

Mr. Barak and the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, led a hawkish line against Iran's nuclear drive over the past few years, emphasizing Israel's doctrine of self-reliance for such existential issues and warning that the time to stop Iran from going nuclear was running out.

But in recent months, faced with tough opposition from Washington, particularly ahead of the November presidential elections, and public criticism from a string of Israeli former security chiefs, the prospect of an imminent unilateral Israeli strike receded. Israel suggested that its own deadline had been put off until this spring or summer.

In the past few weeks Mr. Netanyahu campaigned for re-election in Israel as a strong leader who, among other things, had managed to persuade the world to deal with the Iranian threat.

Late Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu said "the first challenge was and still is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."

But Mr. Netanyahu and his conservative Likud Party emerged weakened from the elections, with much of the Israeli electorate more focused on domestic issues.

Mr. Barak chose not to run for re-election after polls showed that his tiny Independence faction was unlikely to pass the electoral threshold.