Thirty Democratic members of the U.S. Congress are pushing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to break Washington’s long silence on Israel’s nuclear arsenal, according to a report The Washington Post.
The lawmakers, led by Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, argue that the U.S. silence on Israel’s nuclear programme is no longer defencible in light of recent regional developments, particularly the war with Iran.
These lawmakers asked Rubio for detailed information about Israel’s nuclear programme, including its enrichment capabilities and where enriched material is produced. They also asked whether Israel had conveyed to the United States its “red lines” for using nuclear weapons in the current conflict.
While Israel is believed to have possessed nuclear weapons since the 1960s, it maintains “a policy of nuclear opacity, never officially confirming the existence of its nuclear weapons programme and arsenal”, according to the Washington, DC-based Nuclear Threat Initiative.
The White House has also long maintained ambiguity on the issue, despite a handful of glancing admissions. In turn, lawmakers in Congress have rarely launched coordinated public efforts for greater transparency amid decades of bipartisan support for Israel.
“Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by any party to this conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios,” a letter, signed by 30 members of Congress, said. “We do not believe we have received that information.”
“A policy of official ambiguity about the nuclear capabilities of one party to this conflict makes coherent nonproliferation policy in the Middle East impossible,” the letter said, “for Iran, for Saudi Arabia, and for every other state in the region making decisions based on their perceptions of the capabilities of their neighbours.”
In the letter, dated May 4, the lawmakers plainly ask Rubio what nuclear weapon capabilities Israel has, as well as clear information on its warheads and launchers.
They particularly focused on the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, long believed to be the core of Israel’s nuclear programme.
“Does Israel currently possess enrichment capabilities, and at what level?” they asked, appealing for details on both fissile material and plutonium production.
The letter further asked whether Israel, which is not a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has articulated to the US any “nuclear doctrine, red lines, or thresholds for nuclear use in the context of the current conflict with Iran?”