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Israel's Alleged Nuclear Weapons in Perspective

(National Interest) Daniel R. DePetris - Everyone believes that the Israelis possess a sizable nuclear arsenal. The founder of the State of Israel and the country's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, made it his mission to ensure that the one homeland for the Jewish people would be protected from an ever-present threat of Arab attack. Ben-Gurion was concerned that his people would eventually fail to keep up in a conventional arms race with their Arab enemies. Israel, he argued, needed an insurance policy in order to survive in a neighborhood filled with adversaries. Israel has long argued that its nuclear weapons program (which it neither confirms nor denies) is not nearly the biggest threat to the Middle East's security. Israel is ultimately correct: the problems that are killing tens of thousands of people in the Middle East every year and driving millions from their homes have nothing to do with Israel. Instead, they are spurned on by the Arab world's incredible dysfunction: sectarian conflict, incompetent and brutal dictatorial governance (see the Assad regime) and terrorism - all of which feed off of one another and create a cycle of violence. Israel's nuclear program is not where energy should be expended.
2018-08-03 00:00:00
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