Israeli Nuclear Weapons

Breaking nearly 40 years of denial, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seems to have admitted that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. For some time now it was assumed, but not stated, that the Jewish state was a nuclear power.

This comment made by the incoming Sec. of Defense, Robert Gates, in front a Senate confirmation committee last week

“They [Iran] are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons – Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west and us in the Persian Gulf,” he told the Senate committee.

caused the Israeli government to refuse to deny or validate the statement; but downplayed it’s significance. Notable Israeli (ex-)General Shlomo Brom said Israel has quit trying to convince the international community that it does not posses nuclear weapons. “This is nothing really new … It doesn’t change anything.”

Well it may have changed one thing. Today PM Ehud Olmert indirectly spoke of Israel as a nuclear power.

“Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?”

The cited paper, Haaretz, notes that it is not clear if the PM’s words were a “slip of tongue or intended to disclose Israel’s nuclear aspirations.”

None-the-less, the cat is now out of the bag (for anyone who still believed that Israel was without nuclear weapons).

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[2006-12-12 3:25 PM]
PM Olmert has returned to the Israeli position of “nuclear ambiguity” with respect to the states policy on its possession of nuclear weapons. Olmert claims the above quote misinterpreted what he was saying and that he intended to make the distinction between democracies (America, France, Israel, Russia) and Iran. None-the-less, there has been no comment on the remarks of Sec. of Defense Gates categorizing Israel as a MENA nuclear power. Here is some text from the hearing mentioned from FP Passport

SEN. GRAHAM: The president of Iran has publicly disavowed the existence of the Holocaust, he has publicly stated that he would like to wipe Israel off the map. Do you think he’s kidding?

MR. GATES: No, I don’t think he’s kidding. And — but I think that there are, in fact, higher powers in Iran than he, than the president. And I think that while they are certainly pressing, in my opinion, for a nuclear capability, I think that they would see it in the first instance as a deterrent. They are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons — Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west, and us in the Persian Gulf –

In related news, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again repeated his aggressive rhetoric directed at the Israeli state:

Ahmadinejad, who has sparked international outcry by referring to the killing of six million Jews in World War Two as a “myth” and calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map,” launched another verbal attack on the Jewish state.

“Thanks to people’s wishes and God’s will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want,” he said.

“Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out,” he added.

In reaction to Iran’s nuclear buildup, a group of Arab states (the Gulf Cooperation Council) have declared their joint intention to start a joint nuclear energy development program. The Gulf Cooperation Council was created May 25, 1981 and is currently comprised the Council is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; Yemen is on the list for the future. For more on the Gulf Cooperation Council, visit GlobalSecurity.org’s summary.

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[2006-12-14 4:18 PM]
Iran and the Arab League call for international pressure in response to the Israeli nuke admission (or whatever it was)

The Arab League and Iran Wednesday seized on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s apparent slip on Israeli nuclear capabilities calling on the international community and the UN Security Council Wednesday to exert pressure on Israel.