[News] The implications of supporting Israel’s ambiguity policy on its nuclear weapons

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 The implications of supporting Israel’s ambiguity policy on its nuclear
weapons
By Ramona Wadi <https://english.palinfo.com/?p=250011>

Monday 16-June-2025 -
https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/the-implications-of-supporting-israels-ambiguity-policy-on-its-nuclear-weapons/
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had the audacity to accuse Iran
of genocide in his statement outlining the reasons for Operation Rising
Lion, while openly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza with
the international community’s complicity.

“For decades, the tyrants of Tehran brazenly, openly called for Israel’s
destruction. They backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to
develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu stated in a seven-minute video. The
Wall Street Journal reported that Israel has already planned 14 days of
military operations against Iran, while Netanyahu asserted an indefinite
timeframe.

The US had prior knowledge of Israel’s airstrikes on Iran. According to
Axios, the US is aiding Israel in intercepting Iran’s ballistic missiles.
While rushing to Israel’s aid, US Representative told the UN Security
Council that any attack on US military bases would bring dire consequences
for Iran.

The double standard, exposed for what it is, still stands in the
international arena. The US maintains the right to aid any form of
aggression or interference in sovereign countries under the guise of aid,
while threatening action against any form of retaliation.

“Israel advised us this action was necessary for its self-defense. Every
sovereign nation has the right to defend itself and Israel is no
exception,” McCoy Pitt, Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of
International Affairs, told the UN Security Council.

Iran is also no exception, one must add. But let us not forget what former
US General Wesley Clark described in 2001 of the US War on Terror and
foreign intervention: “We are going to take out seven countries in five
years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan
and finish with Iran.”

The US is deeply complicit in Israel’s strikes against Iran, and the
international community is following suit with its rhetoric. Take France,
which is purportedly deliberating on symbolic recognition of a Palestinian
state: “We reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself against any attack,”
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated, despite Israel attacking Iran
first.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong followed suit. “We all understand
the threat of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program represents a
threat to international peace and security, and we urge the parties to
prioritize dialogue and diplomacy.”

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky warned that Iran “long failed to meet
its obligations to the international community, and is building up its
nuclear program. But at the same time, it has rhetoric that is aimed at
destroying the state in Israel … So I have a great deal of understanding
for … military action to deter the production of a nuclear bomb in the
region.”

One question for all world leaders supporting Israel’s attacks against
Iran. Are any of these world leaders concerned that their diplomacy is
protecting a settler-colonial entity that has embarked on genocide and has
deliberately maintained a policy of ambiguity regarding its own nuclear
weapons and capabilities?

Israel’s policy of ambiguity was maintained by the US, as a memo by then
National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger dated 7 July 1969, illustrates.
Discussing Israel’s contract to purchase Phantom aircraft, Kissinger notes
that Israel committed “not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons
into the Near East. But, he adds, “it was plain from the discussion that
they interpreted that to mean they could possess nuclear weapons as long as
they did not test, deploy, or make them public.” The memo further
acknowledges, “public knowledge is almost as dangerous as possession
itself.”

We have now seen Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Is the policy of ambiguity not
as dangerous as public knowledge itself, or even more?

As early as November 2023, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichar Eliyahu stated
that Israel should drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza. Netanyahu rejected
Eliyahu’s statement and then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked on X
that he was glad “these are not the people in charge of Israel’s security”.
Eliyahu later described his comment as “metaphorical”.

Palestinians have been openly threatened with nuclear annihilation. In May
this year, US Congressman Randy Fine called for nuking Gaza in the same way
the US did in Japan. While Israel has not yet used nuclear weapons in Gaza,
in November 2023 Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stated that Gaza has been
hit with more that 25,000 tons of bombs, which is equivalent to two nuclear
bombs. The weight of the US nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
in 1945 was approximately 15,000 tons.

Israel is listed among the nine countries in possession of nuclear weapons,
with 90 warheads and material for up to 200. Germany, which supports
Israel’s security narrative, is listed as one of the five countries that
host US nuclear weapons. There are also 28 countries, besides the 6 host
countries for US and Russian nuclear weapons, that endorse the possession
and use of nuclear weapons.

As Israel drags the world into diplomatic confrontation with Iran, focusing
on the country’s nuclear weapons program, who is focusing on Israel’s
policy of ambiguity regarding its own nuclear weapons? Furthermore, who is
focusing on the immense disparity between Israel’s military and nuclear
capabilities, and the Palestinians in Gaza with negligible means of
defending themselves? Considering Israel’s strikes on Iran, will Western
leaders toe the line that Israel is expecting, which is to annihilate Gaza
from rhetoric, which is the bare minimum allowing it political visibility?

Israel has not swapped Gaza for Iran, even if Netanyahu would like to
create the image of a new enemy. He has already created the exact scenario
with Lebanon, which briefly shifted attention away from Gaza. Yet every
time Israel embarks on a new, visible attack, the plans have been months or
years in the making. Israel disseminates the narrative and Western leaders
comply with diplomatic overtures, in the same way they did over Gaza.

We must not lose sight of Gaza, however. Gaza remains central to Israel,
not because of any threat, but because it is a bulwark against Zionist
colonization. Israel needs to conjure enemies because that is how it
maintains its existence. It needs to focus on resistance movements, on
other countries’ nuclear weapons, to maintain an image of a vulnerable,
helpless state. The truth, however, is that Israel is a settler-colonial
entity that obtained the world’s approval to openly commit genocide in
Gaza, sides maintaining its policy of ambiguity over nuclear weapons while
attacking Iran for its own program.

Let the late war criminal Henry Kissinger’s words sink in for a moment, and
consider the danger Israel poses, being a nuclear power that shields itself
from scrutiny through ambiguous policy. If that is too immense for the
international community to grapple with, how much more so for Gaza?

*-Ramona Wadi is an independent researcher, freelance journalist, book
reviewer and blogger. Her writing covers a range of themes in relation to
Palestine, Chile and Latin America. Her article appeared in MEMO.*
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