News & Video Source Press TV Global News In this edition of Press TV’s News Analysis, Homa Lezgee and her guests, James Morris, Richard Millett and Dahr Jamail, are looking into secret British files released after 3 decades, proving Israel indeed possesses nuclear weapons.
But what has alarmed many is the concern that Israel would use them, if it feels threatened. Has the world failed to take action on a major nuclear threat? Enjoy.
Mordechai Vanunu – The Secrets of Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal
Israel is widely believed to be the sixth country in the world to have developed nuclear weapons and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the others being India, Pakistan and North Korea.Former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei regarded Israel as a state possessing nuclear weapons,but Israel maintains a policy known as “nuclear ambiguity” (also known as “nuclear opacity”). Israel has never officially admitted to having nuclear weapons, instead repeating over the years that it would not be the first country to “introduce” nuclear weapons to the Middle East, leaving ambiguous whether it means it will not create, will not disclose, or will not make first use of the weapons. Israel has refused to sign the NPT despite international pressure to do so, and has stated that signing the NPT would be contrary to its national security interests.
Israel started investigating the nuclear field soon after its founding in 1948 and with French support secretly began building a nuclear reactor and reprocessing plant in the late 1950s. Although Israel first built a nuclear weapon in the late 1960s, it was not publicly confirmed from the inside until Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician, revealed details of the program to the British press in 1986. Israel is currently believed to possess between 75 and 400 nuclear warheads with the ability to deliver them by intercontinental ballistic missile, aircraft, and submarine.
Sunday, October 5, 1986 – Revealed: The Secrets of Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal/ Atomic Technician Mordechai Vanunu Reveals Secret Weapons Production – http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news…
Sunday, September 19, 2010 – Medal For Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower: A Human Rights Organization Has Planned to Present a Peace Prize to the Whistleblower of Israel’s Secret Nuclear Program. -
Israel is widely believed to possess weapons of mass destruction, and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment has recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared chemical warfare capabilities, and an offensive biological warfare program.Officially Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons
Main article: Nuclear weapons and Israel
Although no official statistics exist, it has been estimated that Israel possesses 75-400 nuclear weapons, including thermonuclear weapons in the megaton range.Delivery mechanisms include Jericho intercontinental ballistic missiles, with a range of 11,500 km. Additionally, Israel is believed to have an offshore nuclear second-strike capability, using submarine launched nuclear-capable cruise missiles.The Israeli government maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity on whether it has nuclear weapons, saying only that it would not be the first to “introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.”Former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei regarded Israel as a state possessing nuclear weapons. Much of what is known about Israel’s nuclear program comes from revelations in 1986 by Mordechai Vanunu, a technician at the Dimona nuclear facility, who served an 18-year jail sentence as a result. Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but supports establishment of a Middle East Zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Chemical weapons
Israel has signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). There are speculations that a chemical weapons program might be located at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona.
190 liters of dimethyl methylphosphonate, a CWC schedule 2 chemical used in the synthesis of Sarin nerve gas, was discovered in the cargo of El Al Flight 1862 after it crashed in 1992 en route to Tel Aviv. Israel insisted the material was non-toxic, was to have been used to test filters that protect against chemical weapons, and that it had been clearly listed on the cargo manifest in accordance with international regulations. The shipment was from a U.S. chemical plant to the IIBR under a U.S. Department of Commerce license.
In 1993, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment WMD proliferation assessment recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared offensive chemical warfare capabilities. Former US deputy assistant secretary of defense responsible for chemical and biological defense, Bill Richardson, said in 1998 “I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time … There’s no doubt they’ve had stuff for years.
Biological weapons
Israel is believed to have developed an offensive biological warfare capability. Israel is not a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It is assumed that the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona develops vaccines and antidotes for chemical and biological warfare.[14] While Israel is not known to be producing biological weapons currently, there remains speculation that Israel’s ability to start production and dissemination, if necessary, remains active.
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