: July 2, 2000
: Israel's covert nuclear program
: By ERIC MARGOLIS
: Contributing Foreign Editor
:
: LONDON -- In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Israel's
: Dimona reactor centre, revealed to the Times of London that Israel had
: secretly developed 100 -200 nuclear warheads, using French and
: American-supplied technology.
: Vanunu was lured to Rome in a classic "honey trap" and kidnapped by
: Israeli agents. He was convicted of treason and has been held in
: solitary confinement for the past 14 years.
: Earlier this month, the Sunday Times broke a second major story about
: Israel's covert nuclear program. According to the Times, Israel used a
: newly acquired Dolphin-class submarine to test a hitherto secret
: cruise missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
: The cruise missile is said to have hit a target 900 miles from its
: launch point off the coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, and may
: have a maximum range of 1,200 miles. Israel has become increasingly
: involved in Sri Lanka's civil war, supplying the embattled Colombo
: government with weapons, munitions and military advisers to combat
: Tamil Tigers rebels.
: The state-of-the-art, 1,750-ton Dolphin diesel subs were supplied to
: Israel by Germany, apparently as near-freebie "guilt payments" because
: Iraq used some German-made components in its military programs during
: the Gulf War. Revelations that Israel is using the $440-million (each)
: subs as nuclear launch platforms has deeply embarrassed Germany's
: ardently anti-nuclear socialist government.
: This also raises the fascinating question of how and where the
: Dolphins were modified to accept missiles. The cruise missile used by
: the Israelis is believed to be too large to be fired from the
: Dolphin's 21-inch torpedo tubes. The original 1990 design called for
: lengthening the hull to accommodate a "wet and dry" compartment for
: frogmen - unusual in an attack sub - and for "extra torpedo storage."
: This was clearly the cover for what became a missile compartment of
: four vertical launch tubes. If true, this suggests full German
: collaboration in Israel's covert nuclear program - in spite of
: Berlin's anguished denials. The United States was originally to have
: supplied the subs to Israel, but claimed to lack the capability to
: build modern, conventional powered boats.
: A cynic might suspect the U.S. pressured Germany into supplying
: Israel's latest nuclear weapons platforms to escape an inevitable
: firestorm of protest by its Arab oil clients.
: Israel now has a complete nuclear triad: air-delivered bombs;
: intermediate-range Jericho missiles; and now the sea-launched cruise
: missile. This important development means Israel has a counter-force
: nuclear capability that can ride out any enemy nuclear attack and
: riposte with a devastating strike from the sea.
: The Dolphin "roving launch platforms" also give Israel the ability to
: strike almost anywhere on the globe, and particularly against Iran and
: Pakistan, which Israel singles out as "long-range" enemies. Israel's
: Mossad long claimed Iran would deploy nuclear weapons by 2000. Mossad
: now claims the date is 2002. U.S. intelligence estimates Tehran will
: not even have a prototype weapon before 2010, and no deliverable
: warhead until 2012-13 - if ever.
: Iran denies developing nuclear weapons.
: Revelations of Israel's new cruise missile have provoked a storm of
: outrage in the rest of the Mideast at a delicate time when regional
: peace negotiations hang in the balance.
: Some defence analysts maintain Israel's sea-launched missiles are
: actually a stabilizing factor that eliminated the threat of a
: decapitating nuclear attack. Israel's Jericho missile base at Kfar
: Zachariah near Tel Aviv lacks hardened silos and is thus vulnerable to
: a surprise nuclear attack. The same applies to airbases where nuclear
: bombs are stored for Israel's U.S.-supplied F-15E's. Inadequately
: protected nuclear forces lead to a "use or lose" mentality in time of
: crisis.
: But the latest revelations about Israel's nuclear arsenal - now the
: world's fourth or fifth most powerful - will likely spur the Arab
: states and Iran to intensify efforts to acquire a nuclear
: counter-force, and to develop "poor man's" weapons of mass destruction
: to match Israel's extensive arsenal.
: This bombshell also comes as Israel faces growing pressure in the UN
: over its nuclear weapons. Israel is the only Mideast nation that
: refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Egypt
: insists Israel must sign the NPT as part of a comprehensive Mideast
: peace. Cairo is pressing for a Mideast nuclear-free zone and demands
: Israel allow inspection of its nuclear complex at Dimona. Egypt claims
: Israel's 40-year-old, French-supplied reactor there is unsafe and a
: hazard.
: The United States, in an unusual volte- face, is quietly backing
: Egypt's position. Washington is doubtlessly expressing its growing
: displeasure with Israel over recent sales of high-tech Israeli arms
: and technology to China, much of them of American origin, and over
: Israeli espionage against the United States.
: The first battery of Israel's "Arrow" anti-missile system just became
: operational; THEL, a new laser anti-tactical missile system, follows
: soon. Now, sea-launched cruise missiles. What next? An Israeli landing
: on Mars?
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