A group of Democrats in the United States Congress is urging the Trump administration to publicly acknowledge Israel’s undeclared nuclear weapons program in a move that would break from decades of official US policy by confirming what has long been considered an “open secret” among intelligence officials since the late 1960s.
In a letter sent to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Washington Post, more than two dozen lawmakers, led by Texas’s Joaquin Castro, argued that Washington’s silence on the issue is unjustifiable in light of the war in Iran and the growing risk of military escalation.
“The dangers of miscalculation, escalation, and use of nuclear weapons in this environment are not theoretical,” the 29 lawmakers wrote, adding that Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance of power in the Middle East.
Concerns about nuclear escalation are also shared by some officials within the Trump administration. According to the Washington Post, officials speaking said there is concern that Israel’s red lines are not clearly understood. They warned that Israel’s threshold for a nuclear response may be lower than previously believed, particularly if its air defense systems are overwhelmed by heavy missile barrages.
Those concerns intensified last March, when Iranian missiles struck the Dimona and Arad areas near Israel’s main nuclear research facilities, exposing gaps in the country’s highly regarded air defense system.
Avner Cohen, a historian and leading researcher of Israel’s nuclear program, said the letter breaks a taboo that has been maintained for more than half a century. The longstanding US-Israel policy of silence dates to an informal 1969 agreement between President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Golda Meir, under which Washington effectively accepted Israel’s policy of nuclear ambiguity and agreed to shield it from international criticism.
The current initiative reflects a broader shift in the Democratic Party’s approach to Israel. The letter’s authors argue that the existing policy undermines US credibility as it seeks to limit the nuclear programs of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates while ignoring Israel’s capabilities.
Rep. Castro, who plans to publish the administration’s response once it is received, said the United States should not continue to conceal this information “just out of politeness.”
The US, he added, speaks openly about the weapons programs of countries around the world, and Israel should not be treated as an exception.
Source:
www.jpost.com
