Let’s Talk About Israel’s Nuclear Weapons

Today has been another of those days in which President Trump has announced a “deal” with Iran to stop the war. It’s 95% complete, one cheerleader said, except for the parts about the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program. And by noon, it was obvious that there was no “deal.”

One of the things that Trump tossed into the mix, however, was a suggestion that all the Arab countries in the Middle East, maybe even Iran, sign his Abraham Accords, which is in effect a peace treaty with Israel. With Israel still attacking Lebanon, who wouldn’t want such a deal?

Such a suggestion in juxtaposition with Trump’s obsession to remove the “nuclear dust” (which is the term he uses for Iran’s highly enriched uranium, no idea why) from Iran suggests considering the presence of nuclear weapons in the area. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is mediating the talks that are going nowhere. And then there’s Israel.

Israel is believed to have around 90 nuclear weapons, including on missiles carried by their submarines. Their program is longstanding, having been helped along by the French and disguised from the US. The Wikipedia article is probably as good on the history as any article easily available. Israel continues to play coy on the subject.

There is no longer any ambiguity as to whether Israel has nuclear weapons, and it would be useful to regularly consider their effect in international relations, as we do for the other nations possessing such weapons.

Iran’s nuclear weapons program ended in 2003. Saudi Arabia continues to try to convince the United States to help it build a peaceful nuclear program. Rumors, most likely untrue, persist that Pakistan has offered Saudi Arabia a nuclear umbrella. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia likely include Israel’s nuclear arsenal in their planning.

Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program that was broken up in the 1990s. Israel bombed a reactor under construction in Syria in 2007 and had earlier bombed a reactor in Iraq. Bibi Netanyahu has long fearmongered about Iran’s nuclear program, and Israel has assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. Undoubtedly the nuclear program was a large part of the reason for Israel’s latest attacks on Iran.

There was a movement to make the Middle East a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the 1960s and 1970s. Several nuclear-free-weapons zones exist around the world, shown in the graphic in darker orange. Several nations of the Middle East pushed the idea of a Middle East Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone as the other zones were being established, but Israel was not willing to cooperate.

Seems like it’s time to talk about the destabilizing effect of Israel’s nuclear arsenal.