Israeli Nukes 101

Deception clouds the air when it comes to the critical subject of Israel and nuclear weapons.

Courtesy: thepeoplesvoice.org & ArabAmericanNews.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Ha'aretz published an article 7 July 2010 titled "Secret document affirms U.S.-Israel nuclear partnership" that explains how the U.S. has reportedly pledged to sell Israel materials used to produce electricity, as well as nuclear technology and other supplies."

The publication is Israel's most progressive daily newspaper, known for exercising more fairness with regard to the occupation of Palestine and subsequent oppression of Arab people, than most other Israeli media.

Most Americans growing up in recent decades are raised to believe that Israel is a highly vulnerable nation without a nuclear missile program, or other systems of defense found in military forces in the U.S. and other larger nations.

We learned in May 2008 from a former U.S. President, that Israel had been in possession of deadly nuclear weapons, thanks specifically to the U.S. for more than two decades. The embarrassing part is that everyone with a mind in the Arab world and almost all of Europe has known this the whole time.

There are Americans who also knew, but somehow thanks to the American media, we Yanks were, by and large, completely in the dark with regard to this matter. I wrote about it on 29 May 2008 in an article titled: Carter Reveals Israel's Possession of 150 Nuclear Weapons. ^[1]

People were shocked, Fox suggested that Pres. James Carter was a traitor, (of course) "revealing" this information to Americans. Our writer Elaine Fleming knows the story very well. The only reason the word about Israel's nuclear program got out, is because an employee named Mordechai Vanunu left Israel, traveled to London, and told the Times about many nuclear weapons in Israel's hands, that were all pointed at neighboring Arab countries. He felt it was immoral and believed that the world needed to know.

Europe learned, but Americans somehow didn't. That was the mid-1980's. Israeli secret agents traveled to England, kidnapped Vanunu and took him back to Israel. He was locked up in prison for two decades. After his release our writer Eileen Fleming traveled to Israel and met him, and had a chance to visit with this fascinating man who is controversial and very honest. He is currently back in jail; Israel treats him very badly according to many sources. Time in solitary is nothing new to Mordechai Vanunu^[2].

All the time Israel has had these killer weapons, they make huge waves over "plans" from nations like Iran to have nuclear capabilities. Iran denies having ambitions to create nuclear weapons, Israel maintains theirs in secrecy, the U.S. is totally complicit, and Israel went on for years creating an atmosphere that casts their citizens as highly vulnerable. In fact, they have had the capacity to send the world up in flames all this time.

Now that this cat is fully out of the bag, a new game plan from the U.S. and Israel is underway, where they admit nothing, deny everything, but allow you to read between between the lines. Such is the honesty of Israeli politics. Sadly, Israel is a country run by religious extremists that is always anxious to launch military operations and kill large numbers of people.

According to Ha'aretz:

"Israel's Army Radio reported on Wednesday that the United States has sent Israel a secret document committing to nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

"According to Army Radio, the U.S. has reportedly pledged to sell Israel materials used to produce electricity, as well as nuclear technology and other supplies, despite the fact that Israel is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Other countries have refused to cooperate with Israel on nuclear matters because it has not signed the NPT, and there has been increasing international pressure for Israel to be more transparent about its nuclear arsenal.

"Army Radio's diplomatic correspondent said the reported offer could put Israel on a par with India, another NPT holdout which is openly nuclear-armed but in 2008 secured a U.S.-led deal granting it civilian nuclear imports."

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) is a treaty to limit the spread (proliferation) of nuclear weapons.

It went into effect on 5 March 1970. At this point, 189 states are party to the treaty, with five recognized as nuclear weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. These countries are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

India and Pakistan both have nukes; unlike Israel they were very clear about it.

Israel's nuclear arsenal that includes hundreds of armed warheads is especially worrisome for humanitarian aid groups, as the Jewish state has been conducting a genocide campaign against Palestinian people since taking over the land now called Israel, beginning in 1947.

Now Netanyahu tells Obama that in regard to a conference on a nuclear-free Middle East, proposed during the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP) review conference in New York, that he would not take part in "because it intends to single out Israel:"

According to Ha'aretz.

"Obama informed Netanyahu that, as a co-sponsor charged with enabling the proposed conference, the United States will insist that such a conference have a broad agenda to include regional security issues, verification and compliance and discussion of all types of weapons of mass destruction.

"Obama emphasized the conference will only take place if all countries 'feel confident that they can attend,' and said that efforts to single out Israel would make the prospects of such a conference unlikely.

"The two leaders agreed to work together to oppose efforts to single out Israel at the IAEA General Conference in September.

"Obama emphasized that the U.S. will continue to work closely with Israel to ensure that arms control initiatives and policies do not detract from Israel’s security, and 'support our common efforts to strengthen international peace and stability.'

"Dan Meridor, Netanyahu's deputy prime minister in charge of nuclear affairs, said Obama's endorsement was not new but that its public expression - two months after Washington supported Egypt's proposal at a review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - was significant.

Obama's statement 'was without a doubt a special and significant text. It was important for us, and it was important for the region,' Meridor said.

"Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons under an "ambiguity" strategy billed as warding off foes while avoiding public provocations that can spark regional arms races.

"The official reticence, and its toleration in Washington, has long aggrieved many Arabs and Iranians - especially given U.S.-led pressure on Tehran to rein in its nuclear program."

It is clear that the U.S. is pussyfooting around Israel as always.

It is outrageous that Israel is allowed to violate international law, while continuing to receive substantial U.S. taxpayer support, and that the U.S. always reserves a level of treatment for this government that is far beyond what it offers to others. Israel has shown the world that it has a repeated pattern of lashing out militarily with no regard whatsoever for civilian life.

Thousands of civilians have been killed by Israel in its political pursuits and there are reports of mass prisoner executions during the Six Day War in 1967. This makes Israel a dangerous and unpredictable country. Iran on the other hand, historic Persia, always singled out by western governments with baseless accusations, has a history of non aggression toward other countries. That is a fact.

So concludes our lesson for today.

References:

^[1] May-29-2008: Carter Reveals Israel's Possession of 150 Nuclear Weapons - Tim King Salem-News.com

^[2] Jun-07-2010: Why Israel Put Mordechai Vanunu Back In Jail Last Month - Eileen Fleming Salem-News.com

Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com