The “it” is a military strike to disable Iran’s nuclear program, and the need is real, according to a new report from Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies. The think tank doesn’t itself call for a preemptive attack, but it does seek to reject the widespread view that such a strike would be ineffective and require military participation by others, including the U.S.:

Although experts elsewhere have questioned Israel’s ability to cripple the Iranian program, which is scattered and built in part in underground bunkers, analysts at INSS said Israel would be capable of carrying it off.
A member of the institute’s board, Brigadier General (res.) Giora Eiland said there would not be a military strike without a full “strategic and military” understanding with the U.S. “Even if, at the end of the day, Israeli jets are going to carry out, or execute, this attack, it might be perceived – and rightly – as an understanding between the United States and Israel,” Eiland said.
INSS head Zvi Shtauber, a retired general who also served as Israel’s ambassador in London and senior policy adviser to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said Israel was “technically” capable of striking alone and would have to do so if it takes action, because no other country would agree to work openly with Israel. Taking issue with Eiland’s assessment that the U.S. must sign off on such an attack, he said, “There are certain things that it’s better the U.S. not know about.”