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"The Israeli Nuclear Weapon": Leaked US Documents Re-expose the "Open Secret"

Recent leaked American documents, detailing Israel’s plans to launch an attack on Iran, have shed light on Tel Aviv’s possession of "nuclear weapons", directly and explicitly mentioning them and their potential use in the anticipated attack.

The United States is currently investigating the leak of highly classified American intelligence information, which included Israel's plans to attack Iran. The leak revealed the extent of Israeli preparations and actions, and explicitly stated Tel Aviv’s possession of "nuclear weapons".

For nearly six decades, the United States has had a "secret list" that prohibits American officials from acknowledging Israel's possession of nuclear weapons. This measure is considered "the worst-kept secret", as everyone knows that Israel has nuclear weapons.

The Israeli Nuclear Triad and the "Nuclear Ambiguity" Policy

The leaked intelligence document, confirmed by American officials, explicitly mentioned Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons in a chart titled "Indicators of Israeli Military Activity Directed at Iran". The chart included a table detailing "Israeli nuclear and missile preparations".

The document stated that US intelligence had not detected any activity related to the "Jericho 2" intermediate-range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

However, US intelligence indicated that Israel had deployed intermediate-range ballistic missiles on October 1st, stating that they had no indication of the deployment process's end.

The document considered the deployment of these intermediate-range ballistic missiles a "defensive measure", directly adding: "We haven’t observed any indications that Israel intends to use nuclear weapons", implicitly acknowledging Tel Aviv’s possession of nuclear weapons.

The US Silence on Israeli Nuclear Weapons

American authorities firmly refuse to discuss or acknowledge Israel's possession of nuclear weapons.

Washington has kept this "secret", known to everyone, under wraps for nearly six decades, using a secret list, the "DOE Classification Bulletin WPN-136 on Foreign Nuclear Capabilities", to prevent American officials from publicly discussing the Israeli nuclear arsenal.

The DOE WPN-136 classification bulletin, issued by the US Department of Energy, provides guidelines for classifying and handling information related to foreign nuclear capabilities. It particularly aims to prevent US government employees from publicly discussing sensitive information regarding the Israeli nuclear arsenal, protecting national security interests and maintaining the confidentiality of the US government’s understanding and assessment of foreign nuclear programs.

The Nixon-Meir Agreement

According to a joint opinion piece published in the American newspaper "The Washington Post", written by William Burr, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive at George Washington University, Richard Lollis, a former CIA officer and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, and Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, there has always been a "secret executive order" in Washington preventing American officials from acknowledging Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons.

They stated that "given the increasing risks of the proliferation of such weapons, and worse, their use, the continued self-censorship regarding the Israeli nuclear arsenal is not only odd but also harmful".

Physicist Victor Gilinsky, former commissioner of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the presidencies of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, stated that the US silence on Israeli nuclear weapons came as a result of an agreement reached in September 1969 between former US President Richard Nixon and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. According to the agreement, the United States accepted Israel’s nuclear armament in exchange for maintaining the secrecy of Israeli nuclear weapons.

Gilinsky explained in his analysis of "The American Silence on Israeli Nuclear Weapons" that the United States eased its policies related to Israeli nuclear weapons after this meeting. However, according to Nixon's memoirs, he was not particularly interested in Tel Aviv's possession of these weapons. His main interest was gaining their support during the Cold War.

After this meeting, American bureaucracy created a sense of ambiguity around the existence of a special agreement concerning Israeli nuclear weapons. The settlement reached turned into a permanent commitment, which subsequent American presidents followed.

A Secret "Binding" Agreement for American Presidents

The path adopted by the United States over half a century ago prohibits American employees from publicly acknowledging Israel's possession of nuclear weapons.

Tel Aviv demanded that former US President Bill Clinton, and all subsequent American presidents, adhere to a "secret" agreement stipulating that the United States would not pressure Israel to relinquish its nuclear weapons as long as it faces "existential threats".

However, it is said that American presidents, starting with Bill Clinton, have signed a "secret letter" stating that they would not interfere in the matter of Israeli nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, Tel Aviv acted as if it had a right to such a commitment from every subsequent American president, which it ultimately obtained.

When former US President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the first question directed at him during his inaugural press conference was from veteran journalist Helen Thomas: "Do you know of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?" His response was unclear: "I don’t want to speculate".

Shortly after, Helen was fired, allegedly for "making anti-Israeli statements on another occasion."

In February 2017, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer managed to anger even White House staff sympathetic to Tel Aviv by demanding that former President Donald Trump sign the "secret letter". He succeeded in doing so.

There are reports of Israel conducting at least one nuclear test on September 22, 1979, about a thousand miles south of the African continent. The signal, detected by an American satellite, along with other supporting evidence, was widely interpreted by the US intelligence community and most analysts as a blast associated with an Israeli nuclear test.

Former President Carter wrote in his memoirs: "We have a growing conviction among our scientists that the Israelis did indeed conduct a nuclear test explosion in the ocean near the southern tip of Africa". This explosion was a violation of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, to which Israel was a signatory.

A "Threat List" for American Officials

The White House also issued a list threatening current and former government officials with disciplinary action, including dismissal, should they publicly acknowledge Israel's possession of nuclear weapons. So far, this list has been barred from public release.

The joint article in "The Washington Post" mentioned that a former CIA officer who helped prevent South Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons published a book titled "Hunting Nuclear Weapons". He details this matter and the related efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

However, after the CIA review board approved the book’s publication, the Pentagon demanded the removal of any reference to the Israeli nuclear program.

Despite attempts to declassify many archival documents related to the Israeli nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon recently removed all references to this program from a 60-year-old memo written by American diplomats regarding the need for regional nuclear disarmament talks in the Middle East.