IISS: Israel has sizeable nuclear arsenal

It's a good thing that Israel is not threatening to wipe its neighbors off the map, unlike the other freaks in that region that are trying to get nuclear weapons against the will of the world community because the world community knows those freaks are too maniacal to have them.

Israel + nukes = Israel able to deter freak Arab and Islamic countries

Iran + nukes = freak Islamic maniacs hell bent to destroy the region and now have the power to do it

Israel + nukes = more headaches for the US
Iran + nukes = less headaches for the US

Nice. Thats all I have to say. Just nice.

Re: "Israel + nukes = more headaches for the US
Iran + nukes = less headaches for the US"

I think your statement is easy to say but not easy to explain.

Israel and nukes has been a given for decades but hasn't been a source of headaches.

The possibility of Iran and nukes is the source of headaches for the entire world right now.

Would be interested in you explaining otherwise.

I don't actually think Iran would use nukes any more than any other country has, in spite of what Ahmadinejad has said.

I would support a pact where every nuclear country agreed to retaliate against any country that used a first strike.

Re: "I don't actually think Iran would use nukes any more than any other country has, in spite of what Ahmadinejad has said. "

Concern exists not only with the Iranian military employing the nukes but also the ("terrorist") groups that the Iranian goverment sanctions and supports, who are hell bent on Israel's destruction. The Syrians comprise a similar concern.

"Israel and nukes has been a given for decades but hasn't been a source of headaches. "

that's rich.

Can someone please point me to the example of Anti-American sentiment in the middle east that is more than 60 years old?

How much more hostile have we become to the non-nuclear middle eastern nations in the past 30 years (since Israel's nuclear development)?

some facts, if you will...

So so so.....If Israel wants to have Nukes and a full nuclear arsenal it's ok with the UN who stops people from raising arms like this, YET if IRAN wants to do this they get call a terrorist and are from stop from doing so, THEY LIVE IN THE SAME AREA!! WHAT MAKES ISRAEL SO SPECIAL?

There's been a double-standard for Israel in the Middle East for the past several decades. It's time that Israel be held just as accountable for nuclear weapons as Iran, North Korea, and even the United States. If there is ANY international policy toward nuclear weapons, it should be based on zero-tolerance.

and uh... who gave them all to Israel?... give up? it was US!!!

Re: "Can someone please point me to the example of Anti-American sentiment in the middle east that is more than 60 years old?

How much more hostile have we become to the non-nuclear middle eastern nations in the past 30 years (since Israel's nuclear development)?

some facts, if you will... "

You are just spewing out stuff. Support your position with what you know and not what you can find via Google.

When did the Anti-American sentiment to which you refer begin and what was the basis of it?

When did the world become aware that Israel had nucluear weapons and what was their response?

When if ever did Israel threaten its neighbors with any thing other than a defensive posture to prevent aggression toward them?

I don't think you can answer these. I think you are just an anti-Israel person who can't see the forest for the trees.

Re: "It's time that Israel be held just as accountable for nuclear weapons as Iran, North Korea, and even the United States"

Israel does not make un-provoked threats to destroy its neighbors, nor does it have what the world community considers maniacs in charge.

If you are not aware of the N.Korean sabre rattling over the last 15 years then you won't understand.

If you don't believe what the Iranian leadership has said repeatedly about wiping Israel from the map, then you won't understand.

This is the world community's view, not just the USA.

The US didn't give them to Israel, Israel developed them themselves. Israel is highly regarded as having the top military scientists and arguably the most advanced weapons technology in the world.

And as I've already pointed out in countless other threads, THIS IS A MOOT ISSUE. The debate with Iran focuses on the fact that they are trying to get and develop nuclear weapons NOW. Israel has already had them for 30 odd years. Maybe thats why the same level of scrutiny hasn't happened. go to your local library, do some research and find out how the world reacted 30 years ago. sidenote: every article I've read posted to this site has had a healthy anti-israel slant, yet I keep hearing about how the media only supports Israel. Strange.

And if you're for peace, as so many here claim to be, why would you support any nation trying to develop nuclear weapons? Somebody explain that to me, please. Balance of power? Iran getting nuclear weapons will completely disrupt the balance of power and will just lead to more nations getting nukes. I find it quite amusing that the same people complaining about the lack of support by Israel, Britain, the US etc. in banning cluster bombs are now championing Iran getting nuclear weapons. Is the hypocrisy not transparent enough? For once, step back from your previous biases and think about this issue. One more country getting nukes. One more country with the ability to kill a massive number of people. Think of it in another way. I'm assuming most of your are anti gun control. The NRA type people make the argument that if everyone has guns, there would be fewer attacks, but any logical person sees thats not the case. Now the same thing is happening with nukes.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=121066868386...

well said dgold.

Actually, if you were college educated, you'd know that the legitimate way to "support" a claim is to site a source that others can confirm.

Yup. Been wiping Arabs off the map since 1948!

yeah suuuure we didn't give them the weapons.
and those are "Israeli" F-16 fighter jets bombing Palistine and Lebanon right?

that's an interesting question: "And if you're for peace, as so many here claim to be, why would you support any nation trying to develop nuclear weapons?" Iran has made no such claim that it intends any such thing. The whole matter is more one of Western suspicion than anything else. But what is perhaps a better question is: Why support a country that already possesses nuclear weapons over one that doesn't?

Israel, I am torn over Israel.

Yea. Hitler sucked.

Yea, Palestinians got a raw deal.

Yea, I would be scared if I was an Israeli.

Yea, I would blame Israel if I was a Palestinian.

Yet I would still try to find another way to vent my anger than blowing my self up. Teaching children how to kill and hate your fellow man. And Amassing a large enough arsenal to blow up the whole planet.

Is 200 nuclear war heads a reasonable number to defend country? No, it's over kill, excessive, and Irresponsible towards the global community.

It would be interesting to know how many nukes America has.

Both 16 US intelligence agencies and the UN Nuclear inspectors have all stated that Iran is not, repeat NOT developing a nuclear weapons programme and is only pursuing a peaceful nuclear option. They all state that the nuclear weapons programme was abandoned some years ago.
So why are you all assuming they are?
On both sides of the argument

I think it's interesting that the people who worry the most about some new country getting their hands on nuclear technology or nuclear weapons are the same people who already own them. Seems to me, it'd be a lot more scary to nations who don't have them nor have any hope or intention of perusing them, but that's not the case. It's almost as if what we're really frightened of is that they would develop a nuclear deterrent to our arsenal. It's kinda like how law enforcement would feel more comfortable if they are the only ones that can legally posses a bullet proof vest, which I always thought was interesting due to the fact that it a purely defensive item. But that's the way it is. It's not so much that we are afraid of what they might do to us, as we are that we might not be able to do something to them.

India and Pakistan go scot free on this one... Be fair and acknowledge their nukes too.

why do we weave such a tangled web?

If I remember my history, Israel always denied having Atomic arsenal, a little bit like Iran now, but did US invaded them?
Who's can decide which country do what, on what base do make Israel deserve it!
they have some pretty hard fanatics too, what if one get the power?

Muslim people are not as ugly-bloody-rage killer as your TV and government say!

Open your eyes you fucking morons!

this whole conversation is making me sick to my stomach. whats with the development of weapons of mass destruction, be it cluster or nuclear. we as humans should be smart enough by now to move past the "art of war"

Then again Sun Tzu and Confucius said that the Art of War is necessary to learn so that we'd never have to use it.

I ain't touchin' this one with a 20-foot pole! However, you don't see the Ay-Rab nations attackin' ol' Israel anymore, do ya? And after the wall went up, you don't see so many buses full of kids and women blowing up in Israel anymore either. Deterrence works, I guess.

Not only does Israel contain an arsenal of nukes, but it also has a bio weapons stockpile. In fact, in 1997, Israel tried to create a bio weapon that targeted the the genes of Arabs only to be used against the citizens of Iraq.

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/27a/311.html

Nice eh? Kinda reminds me of a certain event in history that many countries including the US are still PAYING for.

Someone tell me whats the point of making loads of these weapons if nobody's going to use them. Either stop wasting time, money and causing fear and accusations between nations or just use them already. Im bored with this crap that some Americans thinks theyre country is better than anywhere else, and that all middle eastern people are insane terrorists. Everywhere has its crazy extremists but that does not reflect the beliefs of everyone in that country. Leave Iran alone or pay the consequences.

Thought you werent touching this with a 20ft pole hawaii guy but you couldnt resist it could you

On Hawaii guy's argument that deterrence works. Yea that would be okay if it was just deterrence. Israel has a long established preemptive strike policy (It is historical record, how do you think they waged the worlds fastest war). I am worried about nukes in the hands of people who literally shoot first and ask questions latter. They took out a number of top Hamas leaders recently, by stuffing attack helicopters down their throat. Israel dose not have a decent record of military restraint, and that is why I am worried about the nukes.

I said the nuclear program was not given to them by the US, not their F-16's. The nuclear program was actually designed in the early 60's with the help of the French government. Ironically, during this time, the US (under Eisenhower and Kennedy) had a weapons embargo against Israel. And when Kennedy found out about the nuclear weapon development, he threatened an economic embargo on Israel as well. So there goes that double standard theory.

Dameontooth, Israel does have a preemptive strategy, but they've had nukes since the 60's (maybe the 70's) and have yet to use them, so your theory is unwarranted.

Once again, if Iran develops nuke it will upset the entire region's balance of power, not just Israel. why do you think Saudi Arabia is pushing hard as well?

its highly likely you have that many, there is massive surplus and they have been producing ICBM's since the 60's with the cuban missile crisis. There is a massive surplus, but whats conserning about israel is they buy the biggest and best military equipment. whats also worrying about israel is if they actualy attacked any of their enemies with nuclear weapons they'd probably wipe themselves out. Radiation knocks around a desert a long time, and then theres all the depleted uranium from the wars.

This isn't really news. More nukes in general is a bad thing but since Israel has them they should be able to defend themselves as a normal member of NATO.

dgold0101 - "The nuclear program was actually designed in the early 60's with the help of the French government. Ironically, during this time, the US (under Eisenhower and Kennedy) had a weapons embargo against Israel. And when Kennedy found out about the nuclear weapon development, he threatened an economic embargo on Israel as well. So there goes that double standard theory. "

How do you figure "there goes that double standard theory", when Israel still has their nukes and there is no embargo on Israel? Not only is there no embargo on Israel, but we give them 4 billion a year just for kicks. And not only that, but we veto every security council sanction against Israel.

Oh yeah, that doesn't sound like a double standard what so ever... I'm sure we'll extend that same degree of "hostility" to Iran any day now.

Unobjectivity_sucks - nobody in the Middle East threatened to wipe Israel off the map. Attributing such a statement to Ahmadinejad was a bare-faced lie, as anyone who understands Parsi and is not biased against Ahmadinejad can tell you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Is...

Iran has no plans for nukes, but if it did, it would be totally justified - having a nuke or two would be an effective deterrent against Israel attacking Iran with its nukes.