Former Israeli national security adviser Jacob Nagel is calling for a sweeping effort to move the country’s most important military and civilian facilities underground, warning that Israel must learn from enemies that have spent years building protected networks beneath the surface.
By Hezy Laing
Israel has invested billions in defending its skies against enemy missiles, but a different vulnerability remains largely unresolved: many of the facilities that keep the country running are still exposed above ground.
Former national security adviser Jacob Nagel believes it is time for a fundamental change, calling for a national effort to move military command centers, weapons factories, fuel reserves, hospitals and other critical infrastructure deep underground or inside mountains.
Nagel argues that Israel must rethink its approach to national defense and recognize that protecting the country requires more than intercepting incoming missiles.
Israel’s enemies have mastered the underground
Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have spent years developing extensive underground military networks, using tunnels and fortified facilities to hide fighters, store weapons, protect commanders and maintain their operations during Israeli attacks.
Iran has also invested heavily in underground military installations, including facilities designed to protect missile infrastructure and other strategic assets.
Israel has demonstrated its ability to locate and destroy many of these facilities, but Nagel argues that the country has not applied the same strategic thinking to protecting its own essential infrastructure.
Israel has traditionally relied on intelligence, offensive operations and defensive systems such as Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow to protect against missile attacks. While these systems have saved countless lives, no missile defense system can guarantee that every incoming weapon will be intercepted.
Even a relatively small number of successful strikes could damage electricity supplies, disrupt communications, destroy weapons production facilities or interfere with military command operations.
A massive underground construction project
The Nagel Committee on the Defense Budget recommended establishing a national program to move as much critical infrastructure as possible underground or inside mountains.
The proposal goes far beyond building additional bomb shelters. It envisions protected military headquarters, underground weapons production lines, ammunition storage, fuel reserves and essential civilian services that could continue operating during a major war.
Hospitals, water systems, electricity infrastructure and communications facilities would also be considered as part of the effort to ensure that Israel could continue functioning under sustained attack.
The objective is to make it much harder for an enemy to cripple the country by striking a handful of strategically important locations.
Why underground construction is becoming more practical
For years, the biggest obstacle to large-scale underground construction was cost. Digging deep underground and building reinforced facilities required enormous investments, making such projects difficult to justify when Israel could instead spend money on missile interception systems.
Nagel argues that the economic calculation is changing because advances in excavation and tunneling technology have made underground construction more practical.
Modern tunnel-boring machines, improved excavation techniques and experience gained from major civilian infrastructure projects have made it possible to dig more efficiently and reduce construction costs.
The technology does not make underground construction cheap, and the investment would still be enormous. However, projects that were once considered prohibitively expensive may now be financially realistic, particularly if construction is spread over several years and coordinated across government ministries.
Israel could also take advantage of its natural geography, including mountains, rather than relying exclusively on expensive new construction.
A national directorate to lead the effort
Nagel’s central recommendation is to establish a dedicated national directorate under either the prime minister or the National Security Council.
The body would map Israel’s critical infrastructure, identify the most vulnerable facilities and prepare a long-term plan for moving them underground or creating protected alternatives.
It would also coordinate government ministries, establish construction priorities and recommend regulations to ensure that future infrastructure projects take national security requirements into account.
There may be an important political opportunity to advance the proposal. Two former members of the Nagel Committee who helped develop its recommendations now hold influential positions: Talia Lankri, who entered the Knesset with Yisrael Beytenu, and Mahran Prozenfer, who heads the Finance Ministry’s Budget Department.
Their positions could provide a path for advancing the initiative, although the proposal has not yet become an approved government construction program.
Preparing for the next war
Underground facilities are not invulnerable. They require reliable ventilation, multiple access routes, backup power and careful planning to prevent personnel from becoming trapped if entrances are damaged or blocked.
The financial challenge is also substantial, particularly when Israel must simultaneously rebuild military stockpiles and fund other urgent national priorities.
Nevertheless, Nagel believes responsibility for underground infrastructure should not fall exclusively on the Defense Ministry. It requires a coordinated national effort involving the government, security establishment and civilian ministries.
Hamas and Hezbollah have spent years investing in underground networks to survive Israeli attacks. Nagel’s message is that Israel must now apply the same strategic lesson to protecting its own ability to fight, function and endure the next war.
