During his senate confirmation hearing, incoming US Defense Secretary Robert Gates referred to Israel as a “nuclear power”. This comment may have breached an Israeli/US “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy dating back to the 60’s. During the hearing, Gates reasoned hypothetically why Iran would want to build an atomic bomb (of which there is no evidence). “They are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons: Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west and us in the Persian Gulf,” he said.

In reference to the comment, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said, “Israel won’t say, or not say, whether we have nuclear weapons.” Although Israel has never officially confirmed its possession of nukes, it is widely known to be the region’s only nuclear power. Currently, Israel is hypocritically campaigning against Iran’s nuclear energy program. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, said in a radio interview “I haven’t a clue why Gates made those remarks”.

By not declaring itself a nuclear nation, Israel avoids a US ban on funding countries that proliferate weapons of mass destruction. With loans excluded, the US gives 3 billion dollars to Israel annually in economic and military funding. Though Iran is in full compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the US and Israel have sought international sanctions against the country. This double standard in US policy is an obvious source of irritation in the region.

In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician from Israel, was kidnapped in Rome by Israel’s intelligence agency for revealing the inner workings of Israel’s nuclear program to a British newspaper. He was brought to Israel, tried in secret, convicted of treason, and spent 18 years in prison, with 11 of those years in solitary confinement. Since his release in 2004, Vanunu has been arrested several times for violating court-ordered restrictions on his speech and movement.

Analysts estimate that Israel has around 200 long-range nuclear missiles.

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