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Jimmy Carter and Nuclear Exposure

[Ha'aretz] Reuven Pedatzur - Jimmy Carter chose a book fair in Wales to reveal that Israel has 150 nuclear bombs. The former American president, upon entering the White House, adopted the policy of covert American nuclear cooperation with Israel, which was formulated four decades ago. The principles were agreed upon in 1969, when Prime Minister Golda Meir met with U.S. President Richard Nixon in Washington. The U.S. officially accepted Israel's status as a nuclear power, while agreeing not to publicly reveal details about its weapons. Israel committed not to carry out nuclear testing or declare that it has nuclear weapons. For their part, the Americans promised not to pressure Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Every American president since, and every senior administration official who knew the details of the Israeli nuclear program, kept silent and effectively adopted Israel's official policy: that it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. Iran will make use of Carter's comments to point to the double standard of the Western world, which is prepared to accept a nuclear Israel but makes a great effort to prevent Iran from going nuclear. However, the more important ramification is the reinforcement of Israel's deterrent image. In the future, if Iran does acquire nuclear weapons, this image will be of critical importance in the process of developing mutual deterrence.
2008-05-28 01:00:00
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