WHEN the tongue slips, it often tells the truth. And the same happened with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, while addressing the cabinet meeting unintentionally, spoke the truth about the nuclear capability of his country. Just seconds after it was called a slip of tongue and the Israeli PM corrected himself with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile.
Whether or not the Israeli Prime Minister had taken back his words, the fact is and the whole world knows that Israel possesses nuclear weapons and it has developed the same with the assistance and help of some friendly countries which never get tired of blowing the trumpet of non-proliferation. Over the years much has been written about the nuclear capability of Israel and according to estimates it possess a stockpile of eighty to four hundred nuclear warheads and has the ability to deliver them in several methods including aircraft, submarine launched cruise missiles and Jericho series of intermediate to intercontinental range ballistic missiles. Its first deliverable nuclear weapon is thought to have been completed in the 60s. Israel’s nuclear program, in fact, is an open secret since one of the country’s disgruntled technicians blew the whistle on it back in 1986 and then the very remarks of its former speaker Avraham Burg are also on record who stated that his country possesses both nuclear and chemical weapons, and described the official non-disclosure policy as outdated and childish. The regrettable part is the complete silence and the blind eye turned by the staunch campaigners of non-proliferation towards the Israeli nuclear program. They rather aided Israel develop these dangerous weapons and keep an upper hand and hegemony in the Middle East. We are all for nuclear non-proliferation but the present policy is totally discriminatory which gives free hand to one country to develop nuclear arsenals whilst restricting the other. The question arises whether the IAEA Inspectors ever be allowed to inspect the nuclear sites of Israel and whether the hands of Jewish country will also be twisted on the pattern of Iran. Giving a free hand to Israel amounts to playing with fire and it will have dangerous consequences not only for the Middle East but the world peace at large.
