Despite all the attention given to Iran's nuclear moves, the other side of that equation — Israel's nuclear weapons — usually receives scantattention. The Carnegie Endowment's Joe Cirincione argues that Israel has a great interest in a Middle Eastfree of nuclear weapons. He also argues that President Bush now has an opportunity to cut the Gordian knot.
or quite some time now, Washington officials have been pressuring the International Atomic Energy Agency to find Iran's nuclear power program in "material breach" of its treaty obligations not to develop nuclear weapons.
In fact, the world does well to remember that most Middle East weapons programs began as a response to Israel's development of nuclear weapons. That program started in the early 1950s — and had secretly yielded a bomb by 1968.
Israel is now believed to have between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons, a stockpile of chemical weapons and a biological weapons program that may have developed several weapons agents.
If you do not know much about Israel's programs, it is not surprising.
Israel is never mentioned in semi-annual reports the U.S. Congress requires the intelligence agencies!!
Yet, Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with nuclear weapons and an array of medium-range missiles that could deliver them.
Of course, the United States does not see Israel as a threat — but other nations in the region do. That is the whole point.
By ignoring Israel's programs in order to protect the people of Israel, we may actually be increasing their danger.
Mordechai Vanunu was a technician at Dimona, Israel's nuclear installation, from 1976 to 1985.
He discovered that the plant was secretly all producing nuclear weapons.
His conscience made him speak out and in 1986 he provided the London Sunday Times with the facts and photos they used to tell the world about Israel's nuclear weapons programme.
His evidence showed that Israel had stockpiled up to 200 nuclear warheads, with no debate or authorisation from it own citizens.