
Author: Doctor S. Lotfi
Translator: Zahra Zamanloo
Source: rasekhoon.net
Translator: Zahra Zamanloo
Source: rasekhoon.net
In the survey of the reasons of arms race in the Middle East and its implications for the security and stability in the region, Western politicians and researchers often condemn the defense - military policies of Middle East. They consciously and with political goals do not refer to Israel's defense policy and actually ignore the existence of Israeli nuclear arsenal. While all US presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton have been well aware of the extent of Israel's nuclear capability. American officials have been trying to hide the problem from the perspective of the world.
In this regard, some important questions that arise are as follows:
1. Does Israel have nuclear weapons, of course, we do not mean only the nuclear capability, but we want to know whether there are nuclear weapons in the arsenal institutes of Israel?
2. Does the nuclear arsenal increase the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially about the Palestinian issue?
The second question is important to be considered since some Israeli researchers, believe that one of the main reasons that forced Anwar Sadat to sign a peace treaty with Israel was his knowledge of Israel's nuclear capability. He concluded that:
"We cannot defeat Israel on the battlefield, so the only way that remains for Egypt is the same dealing with Israel."
Recently, they talk about peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel.
Again the same researchers and another group of them have assumed that the main reason to accept the peace negotiations by Palestinians is their knowledge about the superior military power of Israel. The notable point in this regard is that fifty years ago, Israel seriously decided to achieve a nuclear weapon. Since 1948, Israel scientists and experts began to extract uranium from phosphate deposits in the Negev Desert, Where "Dimuneh" was created. The first atomic bombs of Israel were shipped to the country's nuclear arsenal between 1965 and 1970.
Considering the different sources and documents indicates that between 50 and 400 nuclear weapons exist in Israel's arsenal. [Some say at least 50 bombs exist in Israel. In the years prior to 1967, there was an important issue in Israeli defense circles. At the time Israel was concerned about the Soviet Union or China to help the Arabs and they were feared that the Arabs acquire the nuclear weapons by the help of these two countries. These doubts raised two different theories in defense circles and the Israeli military:
Some believed that for the survival of Israel it is essential to achieve the weapons and other mass destruction weapons. Another group believed that the major problem is to keep the peace. They believed that if Israel possessed such weapons, especially nuclear weapons of the United States and other major powers, it is possible that the great powers put the Jewish state under pressure to abandon weapons of mass destruction. They did not imagine such weapons have been used in the limited border conflict with neighboring Arab countries or non-state resistance groups [the Palestinians] that were fighting in the occupied territories and outside the occupied territories.
These discussions that were secretly mentioned in Israeli defense circles in the late 1960s had caused Israel to choose the "closed deterrence" or the so-called "nuclear ambiguity strategy". Israel officially and publicly do not admit that has this capability, but occasionally in different forms of formal and informal channels, claims that it has nuclear weapons. In 1970, one of the major US newspapers reported:
"In 1968, the CIA had informed the White House that Israel has the capability to produce nuclear warheads for missiles of Jerry - Bush ".
In December 1974, i.e. after the 1973 war, perhaps for the first time, a senior Israeli official noted this issue informally. President of Israel at that time was Partzyl. He said in response to this issue: ”our intention namely the Jewish state has been to achieve the nuclear weapons and at the moment we have this power potentially and at a short time and several hours and even less than one day we can produce such weapons. Because we should have all the possible weapons to defend our country and we must use newer weapons to achieve more powers.”
After the talks of the president of Israel, "Rabin", the Israeli Prime Minister was asked to elaborate on this issue. Yitzhak Rabin reiterated that Israel would not be the first country in the Middle East that will gain access to nuclear weapons." He then added that "we cannot be second." There are important points in this speech.
There are numerous examples of this equivocation said by Israeli officials.
Once they claim that their country will not cause using the atomic bombs in Middle East while they say “we will not allow any country to be superior to us and achieve nuclear weapons. All American presidents from the 1950s up to now have knowledge about the Israel's nuclear ambitions, but for political reasons they decided to ignore it.
In fact, Israel censored his nuclear arsenal with government silence and strict security - National laws and many Israelis are involved in this secrecy. But what was the Arab reaction to this issue?
Countries of Middle East and Arab countries, sometimes formally or informally have objected to this issue. Especially the Islamic republic of Iran has warned about the nuclear arsenals of Israel in different circles and had objected to the policies of great nuclear powers and that which country has the right to have nuclear capabilities and even nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Consultants of "Hosni Mubarak" are protesting to the issue that Israel has been set aside from the arms control agreements for mass destruction and he has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. This issue has united all countries of Middle East not to have such weapons in their arsenals but again Israel has not accepted any responsibility toward this issue. This discrimination has made the situation unfair and has caused instability in the Middle East.
Even in negotiations that were shaped in December 1995 between "Shimon Peres" and "Hosni Mubarak", this issue was introduced, but due to US pressure on Egypt, Egypt abandoned its insistence on non-nuclear withdrawal of Israeli immediately. Instead, Israel promised that within a year after the conclusion of a peace treaty between Israel on one hand and Syria and Lebanon on the other hand, they sign a treaty for the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons. "Perez" at the time in his statements almost obviously admitted the Israeli nuclear. He said: "After the arrival of peace in the Middle East, we will have a region free from nuclear weapons."
In our words, now we live in the nuclear Middle East and the Israeli nuclear center is inside the triangle that has its base along the Mediterranean coast and its apex oriented in Jerusalem. Many are aware of the plants of "Dimuneh" that is located in the northern region of Naqabeh desert and there is an annual extraction of 88 tons plutonium. Israeli troops have radars and detection systems. All plane flies and even Israel Air Force planes fly is prohibited over the "Dimuneh."
There is disagreement about the current nuclear capability of Israel. It is clear that Israel has the potential. Israel even in 1965, namely two years before the 1967 war between the Arabs and Israel had two nuclear bombs. At that time the prime minister of Israel had commanded the construction of these atomic bombs that were the first nuclear weapons of Israel and ten days later they were used at the beginning of six-day war in which the Israeli planes flied over the Sina desert. The bombs were ready for use on the battlefield in the Middle East. According to the report in 1973 war, Israel had 13 nuclear bombs, and according to another report it had 20 bombs. In 1985, it had hundred bombs and currently it has four hundred nuclear weapons. Therefore, there is no doubt that Israel has had these weapons and now it has too. What is important is the reaction of other Middle Eastern countries towards Israel's nuclear capabilities. Whether we should wait to discuss for a Middle East free from nuclear weapons and free from other weapons of mass destruction. Whether we must wait until Israel achieve the strategic ability or decide to convert its "nuclear ambiguity strategy" to "public deterrent strategy". The important point is whether this nuclear capability, endanger the security of the Middle East? The concern of many researchers who insist on the control of atomic weapons in Middle East is not the issue that Israel uses these bombs in the battle field with Palestinians but their main concern is that Israel uses nuclear blackmail - as they already do - to achieve their political aims.
In 1973, when Israel needed the spare parts for US-made military outfit, they used nuclear threat against the United States to be able to enforce their will.
There for the political use of nuclear weapons is causing great concern of many experts in the Middle East.
This issue can be pursued vigorously in the organization of the Islamic Conference or the Arab League or in the regional organizations.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in the Middle East that has pursued the diplomatic efforts with particular sensitivity, however, the collective efforts and larger group is needed and all Middle Eastern countries should be involved in these efforts.
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