JERUSALEM, Israel -- Speculation is growing that Israel may attack Iran's nuclear plants soon, possibly before the U.S. election.

Ephraim Halevy, former head of Israel's intelligence agency, told the New York Times that Iran should take this seriously.

"If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks," Halevy said.

CBN News Terrorism Analyst Erick Stackelbeck shared his insight on the Iran nuclear threat facing Israel, on CBN News Channel Morning News, Aug. 3

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Washington's current strategy is "perilously close" to failing.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is renewing his calls for the destruction of Israel.

"Any freedom lover and justice seeker in the world must do its best for the annihilation of the Zionist regime to pave the path for the establishment of just and freedom in the world," Ahmadinejad told ambassadors from Islamic countries earlier this week.

In remarks reminiscent of the Third Reich, Ahmadinejad said the Zionists are "behind the scenes of the major power circles in political, media, monetary, and banking organizations in the world."

"It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs," Ahmadinejad claimed.

Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman said that remark makes it clear when the Iranian president says "Zionists," he's referring to all Jews.

"In his bluntness, Ahmadinejad cuts through the false dichotomy of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism when he uses the term 'Zionist' to describe alleged Jewish control of the world for 400 years," the ADL director said in a press release posted on the group's website Thursday.