Online Encyclopedia
Israel and weapons of mass destruction
Israel is very widely believed to possess a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons and intermediate-range ballistic missiles to deliver them. There is also speculation that they may have chemical and biological weapons programs. Israel acceded to the Geneva Protocol on February 20, 1969.
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Nuclear weapons
The Israeli government refuses to officially confirm or deny that it has a nuclear weapon program, and it has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Israel is the only Middle Eastern country not to sign or ratify (since Oman acceded on January 23, 1997) the NPT. In 1998, however, former Prime Minister Shimon Peres admitted publicly that Israel "built a nuclear option, not in order to have a Hiroshima but an Oslo." [1]. The "nuclear option" may refer to a nuclear weapon or to the nuclear reactor in Dimona, which Israel claims is used for scientific research. ("Hiroshima" refers to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, while "Oslo" refers to the Oslo Peace Accords).
The first major revelation of Israel's nuclear capability came in the London-based Sunday Times on October 5, 1986, which printed information provided by Mordechai Vanunu, formerly employed at the Negev Nuclear Research Center , a facility located in the Negev desert south of Dimona. For his revelations, the Mossad lured Vanunu from London to Rome, then drugged and kidnapped him. When he surfaced in Israel, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison, 12 of them in solitary confinement.
Although there had been much speculation prior to Vanunu's revelations that the Dimona site was creating nuclear weapons, Vanunu's information indicated that Israel had also created thermonuclear weapons.
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative , based on Vanunu's information, Israel has approximately 100–200 nuclear explosive devices and a Jericho missile delivery system. A U.S. Department of Defense report made public in 2004 puts the number of weapons at 82. The difference might lie in the amount of material Israel has on store versus assembled weapons.
No known nuclear tests have been conducted within Israel. In September 1979, Israel may have participated in a joint nuclear test with South Africa in the Indian Ocean, but it is currently unknown whether a nuclear test actually even took place, much less if Israel was involved with it. See Report on the 1979 Vela Incident.
Chemical weapons
Israel has signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). There are speculations that a chemical weapons program might be located at the Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona . Spy Marcus Klingberg served a 20-year sentence for the revelation of Israel's secrets to the Soviet Union.
Biological weapons
Israel is not a signatory to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). There are speculations that a biological weapons program might be located at the Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona .