Iran's Fordow nuclear facility can be harmed by the Israelis even if they are not able to ruin "everything underground," former CENTCOM commander, General Joseph Votel, told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.

Votel, who oversaw U.S. military planning in the Middle East, said that Israel "going after something like Fordow's major underground facilities is going to be difficult. But, of course, a facility like Fordow underground is dependent on a lot of infrastructure."

Votel emphasized that "there are a lot of things that Israel can go after that can have a direct and indirect impact on the centrifuges in Fordow and could certainly delay the program without necessarily have to go in and destroy everything underground."

The former CENTCOM commander said that, in general, "Israel has a very sophisticated approach to... the targeting effort," adding that "they've got a long list of things that they're going to go after, and they're going to get to all of them. They've focused very deliberately on removing the ability for the Iranians to see or to protect themselves."

He continued that "they've made it very difficult for the Iranians to respond effectively by removing a lot of their leadership and going after their missile capabilities. And they're focusing on the object of the primary concern which is the nuclear weapons program."

When asked if he is confident they Israel could destroy Fordow without the help of the U.S., Votel said that "I don't know the full range of all capabilities that the Israelis have, their very sophisticated, savvy military. There are lots of tools that are available to them. I think the conventional wisdom is that the bunker busters, the penetrating munitions that are needed to go after something like this are largely still within the inventory of the United States."

Votel said that this means Israel "probably would have some difficulty at doing that and again, the Iranians are demonstrating some level of resolve here. And we can't dismiss the fact that they will continue to pursue this program or even try to make a dash to take what they have now and try to create some kind of weapon."

The former CENTCOM commander added that "Iran has been on a path for a long time to develop capabilities that could hold the region – in particular, to hold Israel at risk. So, I think we have to take this seriously."

He emphasized that "we're pretty confident in the fact that [Iran has] continued to enrich uranium and that they have developed sophisticated ballistic missiles. And the mating of those two things I think poses a significant threat to Israel and, of course, to the remainder of the region. It has to be taken seriously."

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