‘Israel’ has nuclear weapons, admits former PM Barak

Posted on April 5, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

4 Apr 2023

By Al Mayadeen English

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak admits that “Israel” possesses nuclear weapons despite “Tel Aviv” claiming otherwise.

This Sept. 29, 1971, spy satellite photograph later declassified by the US government shows what now is known as the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, occupied Palestine (AP)

Former Israeli occupation Prime Minister Ehud Barak admits that the occupation possesses nuclear weapons through a tweet he made on Tuesday.

“[…] political parties in the West are deeply concerned about the possibility that, if the coup in Israel succeeds, a messianic dictatorship will be established in the heart of the Middle East with nuclear weapons in its possession,” Barak said on Twitter.

Various statements have previously come from Israeli officials condemning the occupation as having or aiming to acquire an arsenal of nuclear weapons, such as former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who addressed Jewish scientists leaving Germany and called on them to put their minds to nuclear research and “do everything possible to provide the desired Jewish state with nuclear weapons.”

Furthermore, former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres addressed the Knesset in 1966, saying: “I see no reason why Israel sought to reassure [Egyptian President Gamal] Abdel Nasser through this platform and allow him to know what we are and are not doing. I know that the Arabs have their doubts about our nuclear ambitions, and I know that this is a means of deterrence. Why would we mitigate these concerns? Why would we work on clarifying that?”

Over the years, the Israeli occupation has adhered to a policy of ambiguity when it comes to its nuclear sector, but the most prominent thing that was leaked was a team of reporters from The Sunday Times saying in the early 90s that Mordechai Vanunu, the technician who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in “Israel”, confirmed through photographs and government documents that the occupation had between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads with a variety of destructive capabilities.

Moreover, the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in 1977 quoted French General Georges Bouet as saying during an interview with the French Europe 1 radio that the occupation possessed at the time the means required to produce two atomic bombs a year, revealing that it also had 13 atomic bombs, as well as the means to get them to their targets.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported in 1978 that a New York radio station broadcast a classified documented report on September 4, 1974, prepared by the CIA, which stated: “We believe that Israel has indeed manufactured nuclear weapons.”

Maariv also confirmed the report on March 2, 1978, citing a high-ranking CIA official, that then-US President Lyndon Johnson was informed that the Israeli occupation had nuclear weapons, and the head of state ordered that the whole thing remains under covers.

The Israeli occupation challenged the UN Security Council Resolution 487 of June 1981, which required “Tel Aviv” to urgently submit all of its nuclear facilities to the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA on September 18, 2009, issued a resolution calling on the occupation to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as open its facilities to international inspection, though the occupation did not express any interest in the matter.

Again the UN General Assembly invited the occupation to become a treaty member in December 2009 following UNGA Resolution “Establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Region of the Middle East”. Though 167 countries voted in favor of the resolution, the Israeli occupation refused to acquiesce in it. Furthermore, “Tel Aviv” skipped the 2010 nuclear summit in Washington.

On an almost daily basis, Israeli occupation officials attack the Iranian nuclear program despite its pacifist nature. Meanwhile, reports indicate that the occupation has nuclear weapons, which was confirmed today by “Israel’s” former premier.

The First Committee of the UN General Assembly ruled in October 2022 in an initial 152-5 decision that “Israel” must destroy all its nuclear weapons and submit its nuclear facilities to the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Four countries – Canada, Micronesia, Palau, and the United States – as well as the Israeli entity, opposed Friday’s resolution on the “risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.” Another 24 countries abstained, including European Union members.

A proposal for a Middle East nuclear-free zone was also accepted by the First Committee with 170 votes, including Iran. “Israel” was the only entity to object to the text. The United States, Cameron, Comoros, and Tanzania were the only four nations to abstain.

According to the report, the NPT is only as meaningful as the level of compliance, according to Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the UN Michal Maayan, and it is not a solution to the “specific security challenges” of the Middle East region.