Does Israel have Atomic Weapons?

[Csargo]

I was in history the other day and we had to do a worksheet that said that maybe Israel has atomic weapons. Does Israel have atomic weapons? I just found that interesting and wanted to know if they really did.

[lars573]

Officially, no.
Unoffcially, yes.

Supplied by the USA. Since they don't officially have them and didn't make them on their own the UN has no data on how many and what kind they are.

[discovery1]

Don't they also have a 'research' reactor, so yes they can make their own?

[Ice]

Yes, they have nuclear arms.

[Redleg]

Officially, no.
Unoffcially, yes.

Supplied by the USA. Since they don't officially have them and didn't make them on their own the UN has no data on how many and what kind they are.

I hope you realize of course it was not the United States that supplied Israel with Nuclear Weapons.

On 3 October 1957, France and Israel signed a revised agreement calling for France to build a 24 MWt reactor (although the cooling systems and waste facilities were designed to handle three times that power) and, in protocols that were not committed to paper, a chemical reprocessing plant. This complex was constructed in secret, and outside the IAEA inspection regime, by French and Israeli technicians at Dimona, in the Negev desert under the leadership of Col. Manes Pratt of the IDF Ordinance Corps.

And

There followed two decades in which the United States, through a combination of benign neglect, erroneous analysis, and successful Israeli deception, failed to discern first the details of Israel's nuclear program. As early as 8 December 1960, the CIA issued a report outlining Dimona's implications for nuclear proliferation, and the CIA station in Tel Aviv had determined by the mid-1960s that the Israeli nuclear weapons program was an established and irreversible fact.

United States inspectors visited Dimona seven times during the 1960s, but they were unable to obtain an accurate picture of the activities carried out there, largely due to tight Israeli control over the timing and agenda of the visits. The Israelis went so far as to install false control room panels and to brick over elevators and hallways that accessed certain areas of the facility. The inspectors were able to report that there was no clear scientific research or civilian nuclear power program justifying such a large reactor - circumstantial evidence of the Israeli bomb program - but found no evidence of "weapons related activities" such as the existence of a plutonium reprocessing plant.

Although the United States government did not encourage or approve of the Israeli nuclear program, it also did nothing to stop it. Walworth Barbour, US ambassador to Israel from 1961-73, the bomb program's crucial years, primarily saw his job as being to insulate the President from facts which might compel him to act on the nuclear issue, alledgedly saying at one point that "The President did not send me there to give him problems. He does not want to be told any bad news." After the 1967 war, Barbour even put a stop to military attachés' intelligence collection efforts around Dimona. Even when Barbour did authorize forwarding information, as he did in 1966 when embassy staff learned that Israel was beginning to put nuclear warheads in missiles, the message seemed to disappear into the bureaucracy and was never acted upon

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/

[Strike For The South]

Yes, they have nuclear arms.

You cant hug with nuclear arms

[Reenk Roink]

You cant hug with nuclear arms

But you can throw quite a punch...

[Aenlic]

The world is coming to an end. Redleg is quoting the Federation of American Scientists, formerly the Federation of Atomic Scientists. It was started by former Manhattan Project scientists to bring rational and informed decision making to the political process. They have a decidedly pacifist bent; and I'm just tickled to no end that Redleg is using them to make a point.

[Redleg]

The world is coming to an end. Redleg is quoting the Federation of American Scientists, formerly the Federation of Atomic Scientists. It was started by former Manhattan Project scientists to bring rational and informed decision making to the political process. They have a decidedly pacifist bent; and I'm just tickled to no end that Redleg is using them to make a point.

When it comes to nuclear weapons FAS is about the most accurate of any source available on the web. So don't be surprised about it to much, I found this out back in the 1980's when I wrote several political papers about Nuclear Weapons while in college, back when I was reading their books and articles.

[KrooK]

Israel for sure has nuclear weapon.
If they haven't weapon why they sentenced Mordechaj Wanunu on 18 years when he announced that Israel has nuclear weapon.

[Redleg]

never mind - I forgot this is not the backroom.

[Aenlic]

I'm just pulling your leg, the red one, of course. We don't see eye-to-eye on much; but we can at least agree that the FAS is a pretty good source for that kind of thing. Probably the most complete listing of non-classified weapons systems for the USA and the rest of the world (under ROW, oddly enough) in one place.

[edyzmedieval]

Officially, no.
Unoficially, yes.

Come on, they really have. If they didn't have, they would have been dog food by now.

[Red Peasant]

Officially, no.
Unoficially, yes.

Come on, they really have. If they didn't have, they would have been dog food by now.

Well, they've whupped Arab ass many times, and big-style in the Six-Day War. Never remember them using nukes. ;)

[Geezer57]

Well, they've whupped Arab ass many times, and big-style in the Six-Day War. Never remember them using nukes. ;)

Well, according to the info in the FAS link posted above, they were so concerned about losing during the Yom Kippur (Ramadan) War in 1973, that some of their nukes were armed and readied for use. Fortunately for all, they weren't needed. Dodged a big one, there.

[Aenlic]

I read an article long ago, don't recall exactly where, that the Israeli Air Force had developed a nuclear bomb designed to be air-dropped from specially modified F-4's by the 1973 war. I don't think they had the Jericho missile back then; but I'm not sure about the missile's design dates. They certainly have the capability now with the Jericho 2 platform to reach any target in the Middle East; and it's likely that they've refined their plane launch system to be used on more modern aircraft like the F-15's.

[Gealai]

They even reconfigured their two world class U-boots - gifted by Germany - do be able to retaliate with nuclear warheads. This caused the german green party to ask for a treaty forbidding the Israeli forces from doing the same to four new german U-boots which Isreal wanted to buy. Given the israeli refuse the order was cancelled.

[Geezer57]

They even reconfigured their two world class U-boots - gifted by Germany - do be able to retaliate with nuclear warheads. This caused the german green party to ask for a treaty forbidding the Israeli forces from doing the same to four new german U-boots which Isreal wanted to buy. Given the israeli refuse the order was cancelled.

I've read similar reports: the Israeli's have apparently altered conventional submarine-launched cruise missles into nuclear land-attack types. It's enough to insure that they have a retaliatory second-strike capability in the even of an enemy 1st strike against them.

[Gealai]

me too; Given Israels human ressources and great experience in military r&d and science&engineering it would have been very very easy. The delivery stop of the four next U-boats imposed by the german goverment wasn't casual either. IIRC it was done shortly after Isreal's military became aware of the SCUD threat and a possible nuclear or chemical strike by Saddam

[Incongruous]

Of coarse they do us bloody Brits did it.

[Watchman]

I was under the impression they originally had a secret joint-developement program going on with South Africa (which later aborted its, and published the fact - I also recall something about a ship carrying suspicious cargo to Israel sinking or being seized on the Med). The facilities were largely built with French assistance (although I've read the French engineers commented they weren't allowed so much a peek into certain parts) or in any case French expertise.

Most sources seem to assume about 200 presumably relatively small (ie. wipes out only one city...) warheads.

[Gealai]

Here is the Isreali dementi following the LA Times article:

Experts dismiss report of submarine-based nuclear missiles By The Associated Press
Ha’aretz, 13.10.2003

Israeli and foreign defense experts on Sunday dismissed a report that Israel had modified submarine-based missiles to carry nuclear warheads, saying such an alteration was technically impossible.

The Los Angeles Times reported in its Saturday editions that Israel had modified some of its nuclear warheads to fit U.S.-made Harpoon cruise missiles and upgraded the missiles so they could hit targets on land in addition to maritime ones. The article quoted two U.S. officials and one Israeli official, all speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel made the modifications in response to Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, the Times reported. Both the United States and Israel view Iran as an enemy and say it is close to developing nuclear weapons that might be used against Israeli targets.

Former Deputy Defense Minister Efraim Sneh called the assertion that Israel had made the Harpoon nuclear impossible. "Anyone with even the slightest understanding of missiles knows that the Harpoon can never be used to carry nuclear warheads," Sneh told Army Radio. "Not even (Israel's) extraordinarily talented engineers and its sophisticated defense industries can transform the Harpoon into a missile capable of doing this. It's simply impossible."

Ted Hooton, editor of Jane's Naval Weapon Systems in London, echoed Sneh's assessment, saying problems with payload weight would put the Harpoon out of balance, limiting its range and accuracy. "It seems to me that a nuclear weapon, which is extremely dense, would make the Harpoon nose heavy and significantly reduce its range – in any event well below the 90 miles it is designed for", Hooton said.


Note that according to new informations of the Harpoon isn't designed to be the carrier but a specially designed CM called "Popeye Turbo II" by the Americans. Isreal is a world leader in missile weapons and UAV's - IMHO such a CM wouldn't be much of a problem for them.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel...e/popeye-t.htm

[Aenlic]

Take note of the fact that they didn't deny altering submarine-launched missiles to carry nuclear warheads. They specifically limited the denial to altering Harpoons to carry nuclear warheads. Some reporter got lazy or had bad information mixed with good information and it opened the door for the typical governmental non-denial denial. The Israeli's were able to deny part of the story while making it look like they were denying the gist of the story.

[Gealai]

Exactly