On Israel's nukes

On Israel’s nuclear policy

The release from prison of Mordechai Vanunu refocuses the world’s attention on the suspected nuclear capabilities of Israel.
Israel has an official policy of ambiguity. By this it means it won’t deny or admit it has nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Israel also has declined signing the non-proliferation treaty, the purpose of which is to prevent the spread of weapons of mass-destruction (nuclear in particular). By this, Israel refuses to be part of a treaty which is enforced by a UN organisation, the IEAE, an organisation renowned for its ineffectiveness in combating proliferation. There is little doubt however that the IEAE would become a real tiger were Israel part of its mandate: The UN has never missed an opportunity to scold, condemn and harass Israel ever since it very hesitatingly authorised its birth in 1947.

Of course the world would be better off without nuclear weapons. However, no one can deny that some countries can be trusted with nuclear weapons more than others. The United States is to date still the only country that has ever used a nuclear weapon in anger, and hundreds of thousands died because of it. The weapons used against Japan are dwarfed in power by today’s strategic nuclear weapons.

The world is right to be concerned about proliferation. No one wants to see the Mad Mullahs in Iran get hold of nuclear weapons. There’s little doubt they are after them, and little doubt they’re close. There is also little doubt the threshold for using them is perilously low in Iran. More than once has its regime stated its willingness to sacrifice millions of its own in a nuclear exchange with Israel. They regard themselves as able to bear such a price, because they’ll survive it (or so they think) and the Jews won’t.

Equally worrisome is possession of nuclear weapons by regimes that may or may not directly use them, but will certainly sell them or their technology to others who will use them. Such regimes may include Syria, Pakistan, North-Korea and others.

Israel is not ruled by such a regime.

In fact, of all the countries that possess nuclear weapons, Israel is arguably the most trustworthy. Of all the others it can demonstrably be proven they have carried out tests that have harmed people, and the damage was inflicted knowingly.

Apart from the questionable morality of the “certified” holders of nuclear weapons, there is a far greater issue at stake here: Never before in known history has there been a country that since its inception has had an official and actual threat of extinction hanging over its head, in the shape of stated policy of most of its neighbours. The fact that Israel is the only Western-oriented country in the region, the fact that it is the only democracy, the fact that only 5 million Jews live there compared to the 200 million or so Arabs and other Muslims, in countries that have gone to war against Israel over and over again. The aim of these wars? Not to occupy, not to force an ideal, not for revenge: They were started to destroy Israel.

These facts alone qualify Israel as a nuclear power.

The Muslim leaders can keep this up indefinitely. They are accountable to no one. In fact, they may need to persist, as it will keep their subjects attention off a much more pressing and real need, namely life in their own countries. As long as Muslim leaders succeed in convincing their subjects that the source of all their problems is Israel, and the destruction of Israel therefore the solution of all those problems, Israel will not know peace.

And Israel cannot afford to lose a single war.

The Muslims have nothing to lose. They cannot be voted out of office. They don’t care about the human losses. The material losses are easily replaced, they control the richest resources on the planet.

Israel needs nuclear weapons more than any other country on Earth. It is the only country with a truly legitimate claim to self-defense, a need that can be met only by nuclear weapons. It also has NO allies or friends that could replace nuclear weapons as a deterrent. Israel needs to be able to rely on itself for its preservation.
In an ideal world, there would be no need for nuclear weapons. There would be no nuclear weapons. There would in fact be no weapons at all.

This is not an ideal world. This is a world where not too long ago, a very effective attempt was made to murder all Jews. Israel needs nuclear weapons to make sure that never happens again.