Israel and weapons of mass destruction
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{{Merge|Nuclear weapons and Israel|date=June 2008}}
{{WMD}}
[[Israel]] is widely believed to possess a substantial arsenal (an estimated 100 to 200) of [[nuclear weapon]]s,<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2007-05-30|title=Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance|publisher=Arms Control Association|url=http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat.asp}}</ref> and maintains intercontinental-range [[ballistic missile]]s to deliver them. Officially Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing nuclear weapons. The [[US Congress]] [[Office of Technology Assessment]] has recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared [[chemical warfare]] capabilities, and an offensive [[biological warfare]] program.<ref name=OTA-ISC-559 />
Although Israel is widely suspected of having weapons of mass destruction, it took part in a regional conference with the [[Union for the Mediterranean]] - including majority-Arab states - on [[2008]]-[[07]]-[[13]] to remove all WMDs from the [[Middle East]].<ref>{{Cite news| title=43 nations to seek Middle East free of WMDs | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-wmd14-2008jul14,0,2667600.story | publisher= [[L. A. Times]] | date=2008-07-13 | accessdate=2008-07-13}}</ref>
==Nuclear weapons==
{{main|Nuclear weapons and Israel}}
The Israeli government refuses to officially confirm or deny whether it has a nuclear weapon program. It has an unofficial but rigidly enforced [[policy of deliberate ambiguity]], saying only that it would not be the first to "introduce nuclear weapons in the [[Middle East]]".<ref>{{cite news|first=Khaled|last=Dawoud|title=Redefining the bomb|publisher=Al-Ahram Weekly|date=[[1999-12-02]]|accessdate=2006-07-02|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/458/intervw.htm}}</ref> In the late 1960s, Israeli Ambassador to the US [[Yitzhak Rabin]] informed the [[United States State Department]], that its understanding of "introducing" such weapons meant that they would be tested and publicly declared, while merely possessing the weapons did not constitute "introducing" them.<ref>Avner Cohen and William Burr, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801326_pf.html The Untold Story of Israel's Bomb], ''Washington Post'', April 30, 2006; B01.</ref> Israel is widely believed to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a [[nuclear weapons states|Nuclear Weapons State]] by the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] (NPT), the other three being [[India]], [[Pakistan]] and [[North Korea]].<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2006-07-02|title=Background Information, 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|publisher=United Nations|url=http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/background.html}}</ref> The [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] Director General [[Mohamed ElBaradei]] regards Israel as a state possessing nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Transcripts/2004/alahram27072004.html|title=Transcript of the Director General's Interview with Al-Ahram News|author=[[Mohamed ElBaradei]]|publisher=[[International Atomic Energy Agency]]|date=[[27 July]] [[2004]]|accessdate=2007-06-03}}</ref> In a December 2006 interview, [[Israeli Prime Minister]] [[Ehud Olmert]] said:
{{cquote|[[Iran]] openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to write Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons as America, [[France]], Israel, [[Russia]]?<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2006-12-11|title=Olmert Admits Israel Has Nuclear Weapons| url=http://www.democracynow.org/2006/12/12/headlines}}</ref>}}
Olmert's office later said that the quote was taken out of context; in other parts of the interview, Olmert refused to confirm or deny Israel's nuclear weapon status.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2006-12-11|title=Olmert Says Israel Among Nuclear Nations| url=http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2006/12/11/ap3245636.html}}</ref>
===Development program===
Israel first showed interest in procuring nuclear materials in 1949, when a unit of the [[IDF Science Corps]] carried out a two year [[geological survey]] of the [[Negev]]. One objective of this was to find sources of uranium.<ref name="FAS">[http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/ Nuclear Weapons - Israel], Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref> In June 1952, Israeli chemist [[Ernst David Bergmann]] was appointed by Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] to be the first chairman of the [[Israel Atomic Energy Commission]] (IAEC). Also appointed head Division of Research and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Defense earlier that same year, Bergmann used the Defense unit as the "chief laboratory" of the IAEC, and during this time developed the capablity to extract uranium from the Negev and produce indigenous [[heavy water]].<ref name="FAS"/>
At this point in the mid-1950s, Israel's nuclear weapons program began receiving aid from other countries. By the [[Suez crisis]] in 1956, according to the preleminary [[Protocol of Sèvres]], France agreed to help Israel build a [[Negev Nuclear Research Center|nuclear reactor and reprocessing]] plant near [[Dimona]] which used natural [[uranium]] moderated by [[heavy water]]. [[Plutonium]] production started in about 1964. Top secret [[United Kingdom|British]] documents obtained by [[BBC]] ''[[Newsnight]]'' show that Britain made hundreds of secret shipments of restricted materials to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. These included specialist chemicals for reprocessing and samples of fissile material—[[uranium-235]] in 1959, and plutonium in 1966, as well as highly enriched [[lithium|lithium-6]] which is used to boost fission bombs and fuel hydrogen bombs. The investigation also showed that Britain shipped 20 tons of heavy water directly to Israel in 1959 and 1960 to start up the [[Dimona]] reactor. The transaction was made through a Norwegian front company called [[Noratom]] which took a 2% commission on the transaction. Britain was challenged about the heavy water deal at the International Atomic Energy Agency after it was exposed on Newsnight in 2005. British Foreign Minister [[Kim Howells]] hid behind the Noratom contract and claimed this was a sale to [[Norway]]. But a former [[British intelligence]] officer who investigated the deal at the time confirmed that this was really a sale to Israel and the Noratom contract was just a charade.<ref>{{cite news|first=Meirion|last=Jones|date=[[2006-03-13]]|title=Britain's dirty secret|accessdate=2006-07-02|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200603130011|publisher=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> The [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|Foreign Office]] finally admitted in [[March 2006]] that Britain knew the destination was Israel all along.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement from the Foreign Office|work=Newsnight|date=[[2006-03-09]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4791360.stm|accessdate=2006-07-02|publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref>
In 1961, the [[Israeli Prime Minister]] David Ben-Gurion informed the [[Canadian Prime Minister]] [[John Diefenbaker]] that a pilot plutonium-separation plant would be built at Dimona. British intelligence concluded from this and other information that this "can only mean that Israel intends to produce nuclear weapons".<ref>{{cite web | title = Atomic Activities in Israel | work = UK Cabinet Submission from Joint Intelligence Bureau | publisher = Cabinet Office, Government of the United Kingdom | date = [[1961-07-17]] | url = http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/foi/pdf/israeli_nuclear1.pdf | format = [[PDF]] | accessdate = 2006-07-02}}</ref> By 1969, [[United States Secretary of Defense|U.S. Defense Secretary]] [[Melvin Laird]] believed that Israel might have a nuclear weapon that year.<ref>{{cite news | coauthors=Cohen, Avner and Burr, William | pages=12–27 | title=Israel crosses the threshold | date=May/June 2006|pages=22-30| publisher=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] | url=http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj06cohen|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| authorlink = [[Melvin Laird]] | title = Stopping the introduction of nuclear weapons into the Middle East | work = Memorandum to the secretary of state | publisher = [[National Security Archive]] | date = [[1969-03-17]]
| url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB189/IN-06.pdf | format = [[PDF]] | accessdate = 2006-07-02}}</ref> Later that year, [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Richard Nixon]] in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister [[Golda Meir]] pressed Israel to "make no visible introduction of nuclear weapons or undertake a [[nuclear test]] program", so maintaining a policy of nuclear ambiguity.<ref>{{cite web
| authorlink = [[Henry Kissinger]] | title = Discussions with the Israelis on nuclear matters | work = Memorandum for the President | publisher = [[National Security Archive]] | date = [[1969-10-07]] | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB189/IN-22.pdf | format = [[PDF]] | accessdate = 2006-07-02}}</ref> The US [[Central Intelligence Agency]] believed that Israel's first bombs may have been made with [[highly enriched uranium]] stolen in the mid-1960s from the [[US Navy]] nuclear fuel plant operated by the ''Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation'' in [[Apollo, Pennsylvania]], where sloppy material accounting would have masked the theft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17104|title=Israel's Bomb|author=Victor Gilinsky (former Commissioner U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)|publisher=The New York Review of Books|date=[[May 13]], [[2004]]|accessdate=2007-12-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://iranaffairs.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/israel_stole_uranium.jpg|title=C.I.A. said in 1974 Israel had A-bombs|author=David Burnham|publisher=[[New York Times]]|date=[[January 27]], [[1978]]|accessdate=2007-12-08}}</ref>
By 1974 [[US intelligence]] believed Israel had stockpiled a small number of [[fission weapon]]s,<ref name=SNIE-4-1-74>{{citation|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB240/snie.pdf|series=Special National Intelligence Estimate|title=Prospects for Further Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|publisher=[[CIA]]|date=23 August 1974|id=SNIE 4-1-74|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> and by 1979 were perhaps in a position so they could test a more advanced small [[tactical nuclear weapon]] or [[thermonuclear weapon]] trigger design.<ref>{{citation | title = The 22 September 1979 Event | series = Interagency Intelligence Memorandum | id = MORI DocID: 1108245 | pages = 5,9 (paragraphs 4,26) | publisher = [[National Security Archive]] | date = December 1979 | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/03.pdf | accessdate = 2006-11-01}}</ref>
[[Image:Vanuunu-Article.jpg|thumb|right|245px|On 5 [[October 1986]], the [[United Kingdom|British]] newspaper ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'' ran [[Mordechai Vanunu]]'s story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed: the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal"]]
The first public revelation of Israel's nuclear capability (as opposed to development program) came in the [[London]] based [[The Sunday Times (UK)|''Sunday Times'']] on 5 [[October 1986]], which printed information provided by [[Mordechai Vanunu]], formerly employed at the [[Negev Nuclear Research Center]], a facility located in the [[Negev]] desert south of Dimona. After being abducted from Italy, Vanunu was tried in Israel and sentenced to 18 years in prison for [[treason]] and [[espionage]]. Although there had been much speculation prior to Vanunu's revelations that the Dimona site was creating nuclear weapons, Vanunu's information indicated that Israel had also built [[thermonuclear weapon]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mordechai Vanunu: The Sunday Times articles|publisher=[[The Times]]||date=[[2004-04-21]]|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-1081668,00.html|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref>
In 1998, former Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]] said that Israel "built a nuclear option, not in order to have a [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima]] but an [[Oslo Accords|Oslo]]".<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|title=Peres admits to Israeli nuclear capability|date=[[1998-07-14]]|url=http://www.fas.org/news/israel/980714-israel1.htm|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref> The "nuclear option" may refer to a nuclear weapon or to the nuclear reactor near Dimona, which Israel claims is used for scientific research. Peres, in his capacity as the Director General of the Ministry of Defense in the early 1950s, was responsible for building Israel's nuclear capability.<ref>{{cite web|title=Israel and the Bomb: Principal players|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/players.htm|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref>
===Nuclear weapons capability===
According to [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]], based on Vanunu's information, Israel has approximately 100–200 nuclear explosive devices by 1980 and the [[Jericho missile]] delivery system. A United States [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] report (leaked and published in the book ''[[Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander]]'' by journalist [[Rowan Scarborough]] in 2004) estimates the number of weapons at 82. US intelligence sources in the late 1990s estimated 75–130 weapons; most sources today estimate between 100 and 200 weapons.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nuclear weapons - Israel|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|url=http://fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref> The difference might lie in the amount of material Israel has on store versus assembled weapons, and estimates as to how much material the weapons actually use (which depends on their sophistication).
Israel has operated three modern [[Germany|German]]-built [[Dolphin class submarine|''Dolphin''-class submarine]]s<ref>{{cite web|title=Dolphin Class Submarines|publisher=Uri Dotan-Bochner|url=http://www.dolphin.org.il/dolphins/|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref> since 1999. Various reports indicate that these [[submarine]]s are equipped with American-made [[UGM-84 Harpoon|Harpoon]] missiles modified to carry small [[nuclear warhead]]s<ref>{{cite news|title=Israel Adds Fuel to Nuclear Dispute|publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Douglas|last=Frantz|date=2003-12-10|url=http://www.dolphin.org.il/press/#LAT|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref> and/or, and more possible<ref>[http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/israel/IsraelMissile2005.html Israel Missile Update 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, medium range (1500-2400km) larger Israeli-made "Popeye Turbo" [[cruise missile]]s, originally developed by Israel for air-to-ground strike capability.<ref>{{cite web|title=Popeye Turbo|publisher=[[globalsecurity.org]]|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/israel/popeye-t.htm|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nuclear Weapons Inventories of the Eight Known Nuclear Powers|publisher=[[PLRC]]|url=http://www.plrc.org/docs/970508G.pdf|accessdate=2007-11-02|format=PDF}}</ref>
No known nuclear weapons test has been conducted within Israel, although the [[Nuclear weapon design#Boosting|boosted weapons]] shown in Vanunu's photographs may well have required testing. It is also possible that the Israelis received results from French nuclear testing in the 1960s. In June 1976, the [[West Germany]] [[German Army|Army]] magazine, ''Wehrtechnik'', claimed that a 1963 underground test took place in the Negev, and other reports indicate that some type of non-nuclear test, perhaps a zero yield or implosion test, may have occurred on [[2 November]] [[1966]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Third Temple's holy of holies: Israel's nuclear weapons|authorlink=Warner D. Farr|work=The Counterproliferation Papers, Future Warfare Series No. 2|publisher=USAF Counterproliferation Center, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base|url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/farr.htm|date=September 1999|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref> In [[September 1979]], a [[Vela (satellite)|Vela]] [[satellite]] may have detected a 3 [[ton#ton of TNT|kiloton]] oceanic [[Effects of nuclear explosions|nuclear explosion]] near [[South Africa]], accompanied by underwater acoustic and [[ionosphere|ionospheric]] effects which may have been a joint nuclear test between [[Israel]] and South Africa (see [[Vela Incident]] and [[Israel-South Africa relations]]).
In an interview the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared to have admitted that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. However, an Israeli spokesman later stated that Olmert meant to give no such statement, and there has been no change in policy on nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/israel/israel-061212-rferl01.htm
| title = Israel Denies Policy Change After Olmert Nuclear Arms Hint
| accessdate = 2007-02-11
| date = [[December 12]], [[2006]]
| publisher = [[GlobalSecurity.org]]
| quote = <small>In an interview with German television on [[December 11]], Olmert said Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map and accused Tehran of trying to make nuclear weapons. Seeking to draw a distinction with Iran, Olmert listed Israel alongside nuclear powers the United States, France, and Russia. "Iran openly, explicitly, and publicly threatens to whip Israel off the map", Olmert said. "Can you say that this is the same level when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?" An Israeli spokesman later said Olmert did not mean to say that Israel has nuclear weapons, but instead had meant to describe America, France, Israel, and Russia as [[democracies]], in contrast to Iran, which the spokesman described as an "extremist [[theological]] regime." Israel is widely believed to have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but has never confirmed or denied this.</small>
}}
</ref>
On 1 [[February 2007]], President [[Jacques Chirac|Chirac]] of France commented on the [[Iran and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear ambitions of Iran]], hinting on possible nuclear countermeasures from Israel: <br>
:"Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone 200 metres into the atmosphere before [[Tehran]] would be razed".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/world/europe/01france.html?ex=1171342800&en=e2b5766c3bbaa94b&ei=5070
| title = Chirac Strays From Assailing a Nuclear Iran
| accessdate = 2007-02-11
| last = Sciolino
| first = Elaine
| coauthors = Katrin Bennhold
| date = [[February 1]], [[2007]]
| publisher = [[The New York Times]]
}}
</ref>
In arguing that the [[United States]] should directly talk to Iran rather than through intermediaries, former President [[Jimmy Carter]] stated in [[May 2008]] that Israel has "150 or more" nuclear weapons in its arsenal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7420573.stm|title=Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=[[26 May]] [[2008]]|accessdate=2008-05-26}}</ref>
===Timetable of estimates of the Israeli nuclear arsenal===
{{nuclear weapons}}
The State of Israel has never made public any details of its nuclear capability or arsenal. The following is a history of estimates by many different reputable sources on the size and strength of Israel's nuclear arsenal.
*1967 ([[Six Day War]])- 2 bombs<ref>150. Burrows and Windrem, op. cit., 280 and Cohen, Israel and the Bomb, op. cit., 273-274.</ref>; 13 bombs<ref>Data from Time, 12 April 1976, quoted in Weissman and Krosney, op. cit., 107.</ref>
*1969- 5-6 bombs of 19 kilotons yield each <ref>Tahtinen, Dale R., The Arab-Israel Military Balance Today (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1973), 34. </ref>
*1973 ([[Yom Kippur War]])- 13 bombs<ref>How Israel Got the Bomb.” Time, 12 April 1976, 39.</ref>; 20 nuclear missiles plus developed a [[suitcase bomb]]<ref> Burrows and Windrem, op. cit., 302.</ref>
*1974- 3 capable artillery battalions each with 12 175 mm tubes and a total of 108 warheads<ref>Kaku, op. cit., 66 and Hersh, op. cit., 216. </ref>; 10 bombs<ref>Valéry, op. cit., 807-09.</ref>
*1976- 10-20 nuclear weapons<ref>Data from CIA, quoted in Weissman and Krosney, op. cit., 109. </ref>
*1980- 200 bombs <ref>Ottenberg, Michael, “Estimating Israel's Nuclear Capabilities,” Command, 30 (October 1994), 6-8.</ref>
*1984- 12-31 atomic bombs<ref>Pry, op. cit., 75.</ref>; 31 plutonium bombs and 10 uranium bombs<ref>Ibid., 111.</ref>
*1985- at least 100 nuclear bombs<ref>Data from NBC Nightly News, quoted in Milhollin, op. cit., 104 and Burrows and Windrem, op. cit., 308. </ref>
*1986- 100 to 200 fission bombs and a number of fusion bombs<ref>Data from Vanunu quoted in Milhollin, op. cit., 104.</ref>
*1991- 50-60 to 200-300<ref>Harkavy, Robert E. “After the Gulf War: The Future of the Israeli Nuclear Strategy,” The Washington Quarterly (Summer 1991), 164. </ref>
*1992- more than 200 bombs<ref>Burrows and Windrem, op. cit., 308.</ref>
*1994- 64-112 bombs (5 kg/warhead)<ref>Albright, David, Berkhout, Frans and Walker, William, Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996. World Inventories, Capabilities, and Policies (New York: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute And Oxford University Press, 1997), 262-263. </ref>; 50 nuclear tipped Jericho missiles, 200 total<ref>Hough, Harold, “Israel's Nuclear Infrastructure,” Jane's Intelligence Review 6, no. 11 (November 1994), 508. </ref>
*1995- 66-116 bombs (at 5 kg/warhead)<ref>Ibid., 262-263. </ref>; 70-80 bombs<ref>Spector, and McDonough, with Medeiros, op. cit., 135.</ref>; "A complete Repertoire" ([[neutron bomb]]s, nuclear mines, suitcase bombs, submarine borne)<ref>Burrows and Windrem, op. cit., 283-284. </ref>
*1996- 60-80 plutonium weapons, maybe more than 100 assembled, ER variants (neutron bombs), varitable yields<ref>Cordesman, op. cit., 1996, 234. </ref>
*1997- More than 400 deliverable thermonuclear and nuclear weapons<ref>Brower, Kenneth S., “A Propensity for Conflict: Potential Scenarios and Outcomes of War in the Middle East,” Jane's Intelligence Review, Special Report no. 14, (February 1997), 14-15. </ref>
*2002– Between 75 and 200 weapons<ref>Norris, Robert S., William Arkin, Hans M. Kristensen, and Joshua Handler. "Israeli nuclear forces, 2002," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 58:5 (September/October 2002): 73-75. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25888562_ITM Excerpt online.]</ref>
The figure dropped between 1997 and 2002 due to satellite photographs showing the power of the reactor had not increased since the 1970s.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
==Chemical weapons==
Israel has signed but not ratified the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (CWC). There are speculations that a [[chemical weapon]]s program might be located at the [[Israel Institute for Biological Research]] ([http://www.iibr.gov.il IIBR]) in [[Ness Ziona]] [http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/asands.htm]. Professor [[Marcus Klingberg]], deputy director of the institute, was sentenced in 1983 to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of the charge of being a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spy. The government kept the matter secret for a decade, arguing it was a sensitive issue.<ref>{{cite news|title=Last KGB Spy to be Released in Israel|publisher=[[Pravda]]|first=Dmitri|last=Chirkin|url=http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/01/15/42060.html|date=2003-01-15|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref>
190 liters of [[dimethyl methylphosphonate]], a [[List of Schedule 2 substances (CWC)|CWC schedule 2 chemical]] used in the synthesis of [[Sarin]] nerve gas, was discovered in the cargo of [[El Al Flight 1862]] after it crashed in 1992 en route to [[Tel Aviv]]. Israel insisted the material was non-toxic, was to have been used to test filters that protect against chemical weapons, and that it had been clearly listed on the cargo manifest in accordance with international regulations. The shipment was from a U.S. chemical plant to the IIBR under a [[United States Department of Commerce|U.S. Department of Commerce]] license.<ref>{{cite news|title=Israel says El Al crash chemical 'non-toxic'|date=1998-10-02|publisher=[[BBC]]|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20030818042548/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/185199.stm|accessdate=2006-07-02}}</ref>
In 1993, the [[U.S. Congress]] [[Office of Technology Assessment]] WMD proliferation assessment recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared offensive chemical warfare capabilities.<ref name=OTA-ISC-559>{{Citation|url=http://www.wws.princeton.edu/ota/disk1/1993/9341_n.html|title=Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Risks|publisher=[[U.S. Congress]] [[Office of Technology Assessment]]|date=August 1993|id=OTA-ISC-559|accessdate=2007-05-27}}</ref> Former US deputy assistant secretary of defense responsible for chemical and biological defense, [[Bill Richardson,]] said in 1998 "I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time ... There's no doubt they've had stuff for years".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/news/1998/12/02news.html|title=Debunking the "ethno-bomb"|author=Jeff Stein|date=[[1998-12-02]]|accessdate=2006-07-11|publisher=[[Salon.com]]}}</ref>
==Biological weapons==
Israel is not a signatory to the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] (BWC). It is assumed that the [[Israel Institute for Biological Research]] in [[Ness Ziona]] develops [[vaccines]] and [[antidote]]s for [[chemical warfare|chemical]] and [[biological warfare]].<ref name = "NesZ">{{cite web
| url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/israel/cbw.htm
| title = Nes Ziyyona
| accessdate = 2007-02-11
| date = [[April 28]], [[2005]]
| publisher = [[GlobalSecurity.org]]
| quote = <small>Israel is believed to have the capacity to produce chemical warfare agents, and probably has stocks of bombs, rockets, and artillery shells. Public reports that a mustard and nerve gas production facility was established in 1982 in the Dimona restricted area are apparently erroneous. Israel is also probably poised to rapidly produce biological weapons, though there are no public reports of currently active production effort or associated locations.…Israel's primary chemical and biological warfare facility is at Nes Ziyyona [Noss Ziona], near Tel Aviv. The Israeli Institute for Bio-Technology is believed to be the home of both offensive and defensive research.</small>
}}
</ref> While it is believed that Israel is not currently producing chemical or biological weapons, there remains speculation that Israel's ability to start production and dissemination, if necessary, remains active.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.foi.se/upload/pdf/israel-and-wmd-1734.pdf
| title = Israel and WMD: Incentives and Capabilities
| accessdate = 2007-02-11
| last = Normark
| first = Magnus
| coauthors = Anders Lindblad, Anders Norqvist, Björn Sandström, and Louise Waldenström
| year = 2005
| month = December
| format = PDF
| work =
| publisher = [[Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut|FOI]]
| pages = pg. 38
| language =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| quote = <small>Israel does not stockpile or produce BW in large-scale today. However, we assess that Israel has a breakout capability for biological weapons and also CW, i.e. the knowledge needed to implement theoretical knowledge into the practical management of production and deployment of CBW. The knowledge base would be the one that was built during the 1950s and 1960s where today’s advanced research can be used to upgrade potential BW and CW agents and their behaviour in the environment. We have not found any conclusive evidence that show that Israel’s offensive programs still remain active today.</small>
}}
</ref>
In 1993, the [[U.S. Congress]] [[Office of Technology Assessment]] WMD proliferation assessment recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having an undeclared offensive biological warfare program.<ref name=OTA-ISC-559 />
==Delivery systems==
===Missiles===
*Israel is known to have tested two versions of the [[Jericho missile]] system. The '''Jericho I''' with a range of 500km and the '''Jericho II''' with a range of 1,500km.
*The [[Shavit]] rocket is used for inserting objects into a [[low earth orbit]].
*Third version of the Jericho missile is possible. Jericho III is thought to have been in service since mid-2005. On [[17 January, 2008]] Israel test fired a multi-stage ballistic missile believed to be of the Jericho III type. With a payload of 1,000 - 1,300 kg it has a range of 4,800 km, or 7,800km with a payload of 350 kg (one Israeli nuclear warhead). This gives Israel, at least, nuclear strike capability against [[Africa]], [[Europe]], and most of [[Asia]].
*Popeye turbo cruise missile with a range of 1,500km.
===Aircraft===
*[[Lockheed Martin]] [[F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16I Sufa]] ("Storm")
*[[McDonnell Douglas]]/[[Boeing]] [[F-15 Eagle]] Baz 2000 (A/B/C/D/E)
===Marine===
*[[Dolphin class submarine|Dolphin Class - Type 800 coastal submarines]] - "Nuclear capable", according to ''[[The Washington Post]]'' [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401050.html]
==See also==
*[[Project Daniel]]
*[[Samson Option]]
*[[South Africa and weapons of mass destruction]]
*[[Vela Incident]] or the [[South Atlantic Flash]]
==External links==
*[http://www.newstatesman.com/200603130011 Britain's dirty secret - Secret papers show how Britain helped Israel make the A-bomb in the 1960s], ''[[New Statesman]]'' by Meirion Jones, [[10 March]] [[2006]]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4789832.stm Secret sale of UK plutonium to Israel], [[BBC]], [[10 March]] [[2006]]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4743493.stm How Britain helped Israel get the bomb] by [[Michael Crick]], [[Newsnight|BBC Newsnight]]
*[http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/doctrine/ Strategic Doctrine] in Israel Special Weapons Guide, [[Federation of American Scientists]]
*[http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Israel/index_3552.html Israel Profile] at [[The Nuclear Threat Initiative]]
*[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/index.htm Israel and the Bomb] [[Avner Cohen]]'s website, including [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/documents/document.htm official documents]
*[http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj06cohen Israel crosses the threshold] - Israel, the bomb and the NPT in the Nixon era, based on [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB189/index.htm documents released 28 April 2006]
*[http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/01/15/42060.html Marcus Klingberg, last KGB Spy to be Released in Israel] by Dmitry Chirkin, Pravda. Ru
*[http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/haaretz14012005.html History of a hot potato] by Yehiam Weitz, ''[[Haaretz]]'', [[January 14]], [[2005]]
*[http://www.iibr.gov.il IIBR official website] The Israel Institute for Biological Research
* [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/proliferation/israel/ Israel] at Nuclear Files.org, [[Nuclear Age Peace Foundation]]
* [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/nuclear-stockpiles.htm Nuclear Stockpiles] Current information on nuclear stockpiles in Israel at Nuclear Files.org, [[Nuclear Age Peace Foundation]]
*[http://www.bsos.umd.edu/pgsd/people/staffpubs/Avner-CBWart.pdf Israel and Chemical/Biological Weapons: History, Deterrence, and Arms Control], Avner Cohen, The Nonproliferation Review/Fall-Winter 2001
*[http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/latimes968.html Should Israel give up its nukes?], [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] study about nuclear nonproliferation in [[Middle East]], by George Bisharat, ''[[LA Times]]'', December 2005
*[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1061381,00.html Israel deploys nuclear arms in submarines] by Peter Beaumont and Conal Urquhart, ''[[The Observer]]'', [[October 12]], [[2003]]
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801326_pf.html The Untold Story of Israel's Bomb] By Avner Cohen and William Burr, ''[[Washington Post]]'', [[April 30]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cpc-pubs/farr.htm The Third Temple's Holy Of Holies: Israel's Nuclear Weapons] by Lt. Col. Warner D. Farr, US Army.
*[http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/foi/pdf/israeli_nuclear1.pdf JIC Israel Nuclear file 1960-61 Part 1]
*[http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/foi/pdf/israeli_nuclear2.pdf JIC Israel Nuclear file 1960-61 Part 2]
*[http://www.omedia.org/Show_Article.asp?DynamicContentID=1979&MenuID=611&ThreadID=1014010 Time to Open the Nuclear Gates - Israel’s “nuclear ambivalence” strategy]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7420573.stm Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'] [[BBC News]] [[26 May]] [[2008]]
*[http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=warfare/Israeli%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20Program Annotated bibliography for the Israeli nuclear weapons program from the Alsos Digital Library on Nuclear Issues]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Israeli nuclear development| ]]
[[Category:Arab-Israeli conflict|Weapons of mass destruction, Israel]]
[[Category:Weapons of mass destruction|Israel]]
[[ar:إسرائيل وأسلحة الدمار الشامل]]
[[id:Israel dan senjata pemusnah massal]]
[[he:מדיניות הגרעין של ישראל]]
[[ms:Israel dan senjata pemusnahan meluas]]