Global InformationNuclear weapons and Israel information
| State of Israel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nuclear program start date | Unknown (estimated 1948 or 1949)[1][2][3] |
| First nuclear weapon test | Unknown (reported partner in early French testing 1960,[1] reported local Israeli underground test 1963,[1] reported Israeli test in Vela incident 1979)[a] |
| First thermonuclear weapon test | Unknown |
| Last nuclear test | Unknown |
| Largest yield test | Unknown |
| Total tests | Unknown |
| Current stockpile | Unknown (estimated 90–400 warheads)[b][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] |
| Current strategic arsenal | Unknown |
| Cumulative strategic arsenal in megatonnage | Unknown |
| Maximum missile range | Unknown (estimated up to 11,500 km)[c] |
| NPT party | No |
| Nuclear weapons |
|---|
 |
| Background |
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| Nuclear-armed states |
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The State of Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. Estimates of Israel's stockpile range between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads,[2][5][6][7][8][9][19] and the country is believed to possess the ability to deliver them in several methods, including by aircraft, as submarine-launched cruise missiles, and via the Jericho series of intermediate to intercontinental range ballistic missiles.[20][21] Its first deliverable nuclear weapon is thought to have been completed in late 1966 or early 1967; which would make it the sixth country in the world to have developed them.[2][22][23]
Israel maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity, never officially denying nor admitting to having nuclear weapons, instead repeating over the years that "Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East".[24][25][26] However, in November 2023, amid the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli minister of Heritage, who was a member of the war cabinet,[27] publicly stated that dropping a nuclear bomb over Gaza was an option.[28][29]
Israel declines to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), despite international pressure to do so[citation needed], saying that would be contrary to its national security interests.[citation needed]
Additionally, Israel developed the Begin Doctrine of counter-proliferation and preventive strikes, denying other regional actors the ability to acquire their own nuclear weapons. The Israeli Air Force conducted Operation Opera and Operation Orchard, destroying the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors in 1981 and 2007, respectively, and the Stuxnet malware that severely damaged Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010 is thought to have been developed jointly by the United States and Israel. As of 2019, Israel remains the only country in the Middle East believed to possess nuclear weapons.[23] The Samson Option refers to Israel's deterrence strategy of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons as a "last resort" against a country whose military has invaded and/or destroyed much of Israel.[30]
Israel began to investigate the nuclear field soon after it declared independence in 1948 and, with French co-operation, secretly began building the Negev Nuclear Research Center,[d] a facility near Dimona housing a nuclear reactor and reprocessing plant in the late 1950s. The first extensive details of the weapons program came on October 5, 1986, with media coverage of revelations from Mordechai Vanunu, a technician formerly employed at the center. Vanunu was soon kidnapped by the Mossad and brought back to Israel, where he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason and espionage.[31][32]
- ^ a b c Farr 1999.
- ^ a b c "Israel's Nuclear Weapon Capability: An Overview". Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. August 1996. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
- ^ "WRMEA – Mohammed Omer Wins Norwegian PEN Prize". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
- ^ David Albright (July 1994). "South Africa and the Affordable Bomb – The flash in the Atlantic". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 50 (4): 42.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
HKwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
israelhayom.comwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Revesz, Rachael (September 16, 2016). "Colin Powell leaked emails: Israel has '200 nukes all pointed at Iran', former US secretary of state says". The Independent. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
- ^ a b Brower 1997.
- ^ a b "Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance". Arms Control Association. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ Cohen 1998, p. 349.
- ^ ElBaradei, Mohamed (July 27, 2004). "Transcript of the Director General's Interview with Al-Ahram News". International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
- ^ My Promised Land, by Ari Shavit, (London 2014), page 188
- ^ John Pike. "Nuclear Weapons". globalsecurity.org.
- ^ "Nuclear Weapons". fas.org.
- ^ "Status of World Nuclear Forces – Federation Of American Scientists". Fas.org.
- ^ Andrew Feickert (March 5, 2004). "Missile Survey: Ballistic and Cruise Missiles of Foreign Countries" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2014.
- ^ "Jericho 3". Missile Threat. March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ "Israel Tests Enhanced Ballistic Missile". Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ^ "Status of World Nuclear Forces – Federation Of American Scientists". Fas.org.
- ^ "Jericho 3". missilethreat.csis.org. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ^ "Nuclear weapons – Israel". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved July 1, 2007.
- ^ Nuclear Proliferation International History Project. "Israel's Quest for Yellowcake: The Secret Argentina-Israel Connection, 1963–1966". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
- ^ a b "Nuclear Overview". Israel. NTI. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
- ^ Bronner, Ethan (October 13, 2010). "Vague, Opaque and Ambiguous — Israel's Hush-Hush Nuclear Policy". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ Korb, Lawrence (November 1, 1998). "The Quiet Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968" (historical documents). Office of the Historian. XX, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1967–68. Department of State. December 12, 1968. Document 349. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^ Williams, Dan (November 5, 2023). "Netanyahu suspends Israeli minister over Gaza nuclear comment". Rueters.
- ^ https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/far-right-minister-nuking-gaza-is-an-option-population-should-go-to-ireland-or-deserts/
- ^ https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240124-israel-minister-renews-call-for-striking-gaza-with-nuclear-bomb/
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
doctrinewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
sunday-times-20040421was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Vanunu: Israel's nuclear telltale". BBC News. April 20, 2004. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
[Vanunu blew] the whistle on Israel's secret nuclear activities....It was a decision that led him first to London and the Sunday Times - then to Rome and kidnapping by Israeli intelligence service Mossad - then back to Israel and a long jail sentence.
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