The Question
Eternal
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07899735.htm
Israelis piqued by Gates nuclear "confirmation"
07 Dec 2006 1355 GMT
Source: Reuters
Printable view | Email this article | RSS[-] Text [+]
Background
Iraq in turmoil
More
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Robert Gates, the incoming U.S. secretary of defense, won plaudits in Washington this week for his candour on the Iraq war.
Some Israelis were less pleased, however, to hear Gates mention with equal frankness what U.S. administrations have long avoided saying in public -- that the Jewish state has the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.
To be fair, it was pretty oblique.
During his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Gates mentioned why Iran might be seeking the means to build an atomic bomb: "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," he said.
The remark led Israeli news bulletins. State-run radio suggested Gates may have breached a U.S. "don't ask, don't tell" policy that dates back to the late 1960s.
"It's quite unprecedented," a retired Israeli diplomat told Reuters on Thursday when asked about Gates's testimony. "I can only assume he has yet to get to grips with the understandings that exist between us and the Americans."
According to recently declassifed documents cited by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine, under President Richard Nixon the United States knew Israel had developed nuclear weapons but opted against pressing its ally to come clean on the capability and accept international regulation.
Israel neither confirms nor denies having the bomb as part of a "strategic ambiguity" policy that it says fends off numerically superior enemies while avoiding an arms race.
This sanctioned reticence is a major irritant for Arabs and Iran, which see a double-standard in U.S. policy in the region.
U.S. AID
By not declaring itself to be nuclear armed, Israel also skirts a U.S. ban on funding countries that proliferate weapons of mass destruction. It can thus enjoy more than $2 billion in annual military and other aid from Washington.
Though Gates was appointed as part of a move by U.S. President George W. Bush to revitalise prospects for Iraq and a wider peace in the Middle East, no one has yet gone as far as to propose openly that Washington review Israel's open secret.
"I am not aware of any change in U.S. policy on discussing Israel and its nuclear capability," said Stewart Tuttle, spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv.
Shimon Peres, who helped found Israel's main atomic reactor in the 1950s, officially for civilian use, and is now senior deputy to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, sounded similarly unperturbed.
"This announcement makes no fundamental difference," he told Israel Radio. "
"Whether or not Israel has nuclear weapons, the fact is that Israel is the only country threatened with destruction ... Israel is not threatening any country. Weapons do not fire themselves, people fire them."
He was apparently referring to arch-foe Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the elimination of the "Zionist regime" but denied his country seeks nuclear arms.
AlertNet news is provided by
Delicio.us | Digg | NewsVine | Reddit
Emergencies and topics
Iraq in turmoil
More
Countries
Zoom to full size map
Reset
Iran profile
View map
Israel profile
View map
Pakistan profile
View map
Palestinian territories profile
View map
Russia profile
View map
More
Latest news
ICRC boosts Palestinian and Iraqi aid, cuts Sudan
Source: Reuters
Bush, Blair: 'new approach' needed on Iraq
Source: Reuters
FACTBOX-Details of key figures in Litvinenko case
Source: Reuters
FACTBOX-Details of key figures in Litvinenko case
Source: Reuters
Lebanese army chief urges troops to remain neutral
Source: Reuters
More
NGO latest
McCullough of CWS Rallies People to the Cause at World AIDS Day Event
Source: CWS
Some Joy for the Poorest West Bank Families
Source: NEF - USA
AJWS President Ruth Messinger Issues Statement to Take Action in the Global Battle to Fight AIDS
Source: AJWS - USA
Community, church and advocacy leaders gather on world AIDS day to 'keep the promise'
Source: Northwest Medical Teams International - USA
Iraq: ICRC strongly condemns attacks against civilians
Source: ICRC - Switzerland
More
Co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker (L) and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) hold a news conference about the Iraq Study Group Report findings on Capitol Hill in Washington December 6, 2006. The report calls the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and urged the United States to start moving combat forces out.
More pictures | Galleries
