Israel’s nuclear capabilities out in open
By Syed Ali Hassan
Iran Daily’s correspondent in Pakistan
Israel’s nuclear denial policy, often referred to as nuclear ambiguity or the Samson Option, was designed to deter potential adversaries by avoiding the complications and scrutiny that would arise from an open declaration of nuclear capabilities. However, Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm has provided Israel with the opportunity to admit to having a nuclear weapon.
One of the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas on October 7 fell on the Asdat Macha military base in central Israel, where nuclear missiles were stored. The rocket did not directly hit the missiles but sparked a fire that spread to missile storage facilities and other sensitive weapons.
The Israeli government has not yet released any information about the damage caused to the military base and the surrounding population by the radiation from the nuclear material, but the military base has been evacuated.
According to Hans Christensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists, an Israeli military base hit by rockets fired by Hamas contained between 25 and 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which considers it its primary responsibility to keep a close eye on the nuclear programs of Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan, has not yet started a formal inspection of the site despite clear reports.
It is certain that the IAEA, under the United Nations, will not impose sanctions against Israel, nor will it bring this issue to the Security Council, as any resolution against Israel will be vetoed by the United States, Great Britain, and France.
In early November, the Israeli Minister of Cultural Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu, said during a radio interview that the nuclear option would be a way to deal with the Palestinians in Gaza. This clearly means that Israel not only has nuclear weapons but is also ready to use them. Israel has never officially stated its position on the possession and number of its nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons experts and international organizations say that Israel has more than 200 nuclear warheads.
During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when Arab forces were bombing Israel from the Golan Heights and Israel’s military was being destroyed, then Israeli prime minister Golda Meir informed the Arab rulers of her determination to drop nuclear bombs on the Arab capitals. After that, the tide of the war changed, and Israel very deftly and cunningly occupied the strategically important hillocks of the Golan Heights, which it holds to this day.
The IAEA has always ignored Israel’s nuclear weapons program, and the justification is that Israel has not signed the NPT, so the agency cannot monitor Israel’s nuclear program.
Here is revealed the hypocrisy of the world powers, especially the United States, which allows a usurper state to make nuclear weapons. Yet, the United States and European countries pressure Pakistan to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The US does not pressure Israel and India to sign the CTBT and NPT, but it imposes sanctions on Pakistan and freezes the financial assets of an already poor country. This double standard has put the world in greater nuclear danger.
The Israeli government’s ambivalent stance on nuclear weapons has persisted for decades. This ambivalence ended with Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. An Israeli minister even suggested the nuclear option against Palestinians. It proved that Israel not only has nuclear weapons but is also ready to use them.
Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza is having a negative impact on American politics. President Biden’s support for Israeli aggression has reduced his popularity among Democratic voters. The Biden administration is causing growing outrage among the American public, who claim that their country is essentially aiding and abetting war crimes on a massive scale.
Political experts say that if a US presidential election were held today, Biden would fail to defeat Trump because he has lost the support of key constituencies, including progressive voters and American Muslims.