After Israel launched its attack against Iran, pledging to destroy its nuclear program to prevent it from producing nuclear weapons, the focus again on Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
Israel’s nuclear capabilities, which are widely believed to have nuclear weapons, are still a less traded issue in discussions, although Israel does not officially recognize those weapons, and does not deny that either.
“We were previously called” mystery “, referring to Israel’s intentional position in adding fog for its nuclear program,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear affairs expert at the Midelburi Institute, told the American NBC on Wednesday.
He added: “But I believe that the most accurate description at the present time is an unbelievable denial.”
90 nuclear heads
Despite the absence of official recognition, the estimates of many intelligence agencies and arms control experts indicate that Israel has between 80 and 90 nuclear heads, and perhaps more, and has the ability to deliver them using ballistic missiles, combat aircraft, and possibly nuclear submarines.
It is also believed that the nuclear reactor in Dimouna, which was secretly held with French help in the 1950s, is also believed to be the center of this program.
In turn, the American American Scientists, an independent international organization concerned with armament control and disarmament research, estimates that Israel has about 90 nuclear heads, according to NBC News.
“Policy of mystery” is ambiguous “
Because of the official ambiguity policy pursued by Israel on its nuclear program, the two organizations confirm that it is difficult to determine the exact size of its nuclear capabilities.
The Israeli nuclear ambiguity policy, known as “mystery deterrence”, aims to create a strategic deterrent without raising a direct arms race in the Middle East or facing international pressure to take the program.
Israel is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations Nuclear Control Authority, along with Iran. But, unlike Tehran, is one of five countries – along with North Korea, India, Pakistan, and South Sudan – did not sign the treaty not to spread nuclear weapons, a historical agreement that entered into force in 1970 with the aim of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. North Korea, India, and Pakistan also have nuclear graphics that are widely recognized, although it is outside the treaty.
In order for Israel to be able to formally join the treaty, it will be obligated to abandon any nuclear weapons in its possession, as the treaty recognizes only five countries as legitimate “nuclear states”, namely: the United States, Britain, China, France, and Russia, and the countries that possessed nuclear weapons before 1967.
“Part of Politics”
“They deliberately keep their nuclear capabilities secret, and this is part of the policy they follow.”.
He pointed out that this policy is partially aimed at ensuring that “potential opponents do not know what Israel can do in the event of a crisis.”
The development of the nuclear arsenal in 1948
Historical records indicate that, since the founding of the state in 1948, Israeli leaders have sought in the aftermath of the Holocaust to develop a nuclear arsenal to ensure Israel’s security, according to the “virtual Jewish Library”, an electronic encyclopedia published by the “American Cooperative Project”, which is affiliated with political analyst Mitchell.
In a memorandum that was removed from the secrecy dating back to July 1969, it was directed to US President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said that Israel pledged “not to be the first to enter nuclear weapons to the Near East” as a condition for obtaining Phantom planes from the United States, although this pledge remained mysterious in terms of its meaning and practical application.
Israeli nuclear technician .. “Merdakhai Fahnu”
Mordechai Fakunu, a former Israeli nuclear art, worked in the Dimouna nuclear reactor in the Negev desert in the late sixties and early seventies, a global stir when he revealed secret details and pictures of the reactor of the British newspaper “Sunday Times”.
The disclosure of Mordechai Fahnu revealed the Israeli nuclear program, which was not hidden for decades, and the Israeli government strongly embarrassed, as it undermined its firm policy in strategic ambiguity regarding its possession of nuclear weapons.
I was imprisoned in 1986 on charges of treason after he revealed this information, and was released in 2004 after spending 18 years behind bars, most of them in solitary confinement.
“I didn’t feel that I was betrayed, but I felt that I was notifying. I was trying to save Israel from a new Holocaust,” Fakhinu said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2004. He added that he does not feel remorse despite the high price he paid.
“A major obstacle”
Observers, including the armament and deployment control center, believe that the Israeli ambiguity policy hinders regional and international efforts aimed at ensuring the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the Middle East.
The center said on its website: “The lack of clarity on Israel’s nuclear program is a major obstacle to the establishment of an area free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.”
He added that the global pledge to create this region, which was approved in 1995, was crucial to extending the Nuclear weapons Treaty (NPT) indefinitely.
Attractive with Iran: deterrence or motive for armament?
While experts warned that Israeli strikes against Iran may have opposite results, instead of Tehran’s deterrence, it may push it to accelerate its endeavor to possess nuclear capabilities.
“It is very likely that Iran will decide that it needs greater nuclear capabilities to deter such attacks in the future,” said John Ithrem. He added: “This puts us on a very dangerous path.”
