2024-10-07 15:10:34
Tel Aviv: Israel is preparing to retaliate after Iran’s missile attack. The whole world including America fears that Israel may target Iran’s nuclear facilities. It is also feared that the recent tension may inspire Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the question arises whether Israel has nuclear weapons with which it can give a befitting reply to Iran’s arrogance. This question is also pertinent because Israel has neither officially accepted nor denied the presence of nuclear weapons yet.
How many nuclear weapons does Israel have?
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), by January 2024, Israel had about 90 nuclear weapons. These include 30 gravity bombs to be fired from F-16 or F-15 aircraft, 50 warheads for ground-launched Jericho III ballistic missiles, and 10 nuclear cruise missiles to be launched from Israel’s Dolphin-class submarines.
When did Israel’s nuclear program start?
According to US government documents made public in 2015, the US government first became aware of Israel’s secret nuclear program at the Negev Nuclear Research Center (NNRC) near Dimona in the 1960s. At the time the CIA estimated that Israel had already accumulated a nuclear stockpile by 1974. The center was reportedly built with French aid in the late 1950s. SIPRI says Israel could have 750–1,110 kilograms of plutonium by early 2023, enough to make 277 nuclear weapons.
What is behind Israel’s policy of nuclear ambiguity?
Israel has never officially confirmed nor denied that it possesses nuclear weapons. Israel is also not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In a February 20 article written for the Washington Post, American security experts claimed that this policy was justified during the Cold War, as Israel feared that the USSR might share nuclear technology with Egypt or Syria to balance the situation.
Will Israel use nuclear weapons?
Nevertheless, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Likud MP Talley Gottlieb publicly proposed the use of nuclear weapons in the Gaza Strip in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan proposed the use of nuclear weapons on the second day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as Israeli media revealed in 2013.