"The way I read jvertas explanation of this is they believe they can hit the chemical plants in Haifa and create the equivalent of a nuclear hit on that part of Israel. jveritas, is that close to what you said?"
If the chemical plants are anything like Houston's they are specifically and redundantly designed not to explode. Most likely, they have been emptied and have nothing in process as a safety measure.
My concern would be such things as chlorine tanks. They would take a direct hit but could be nasty. Underground tanks might be an option as the gas is heavier than air. It would be hard to "fail safe" a chemical plant but I would doubt the nuclear equivalent verbiage. Israel likely has at least as good a system as our industry does.