Israel’s bomb came out of the closet – 11/07/2023 – Elio Gaspari

In a brief interview with Israeli radio, Minister Amichai Eliyahu, in charge of Jerusalem affairs, said that dropping an atomic bomb on the Gaza Strip was “an option.” He was soon suspended by Prime Minister Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid called for his resignation. Eliyahu explained that he spoke of the bomb “metaphorically.” Okay, but he said it. Dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza would be crazy, but Eliyahu brought Israeli nuclear power out of the closet.

To get away from theory and metaphors, today, in a scenario of Iran’s involvement in the war, the picture would be different and everyone involved in the conflict knows this.

Since the explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, military and civilians have considered the use of nuclear devices on battlefields. Between 1950 and 1968, three American presidents (Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson) refused at least a dozen requests for the use of nuclear devices in Korea, China and Vietnam.

At that time, a young American professor named Henry Kissinger emerged with a book in which he discussed the use of low-explosive nuclear devices as tactical weapons.

On Israel’s side, a history of clairvoyance, tenacity and diplomatic astuteness was built. David Ben-Gurion began dealing with the bomb in 1945, shortly after the Hiroshima explosion. He was a Zionist leader in Palestine and the State of Israel was just an idea. His interlocutor was a young scientist who made explosives for Haganah fighters.

In April 1948, six months before the creation of Israel, Ben-Gurion began recruiting scientists. Years later, at the age of 29, Shimon Peres became director of the Ministry of Defense. He would begin talks with France to build a small reactor in Israel. Ben-Gurion would be clear: “I want the nuclear option.” In 1957, Peres closed the deal for the construction of the reactor in Dimona, in the Negev desert. The United States was suspicious of this reactor from the very beginning.

In secret, Israel built an underground plant to reprocess the plutonium used in the reactor. Seven inspections by American scientists and diplomats did not suspect (or did not want to suspect) its existence.

In 1967, Israel already had two artifacts. Today it would be between 60 and 400. Its use was called by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol “Samson’s option”, the one who destroyed the Philistine temple. Unlike India, Pakistan and North Korea, Israel denies having the bombs. (In 1969 President Nixon asked Golda Meir if she had “dangerous things” and she replied that she did. As Golda was leaving the meeting he told her: “Be careful.”)

For decades, Israel has produced and stockpiled nuclear devices. Their denials preserve an open secret. Israel’s enemies cultivate an illusion that a country will allow itself to be destroyed without using all the weapons at its disposal. Amichai Eliyahu may be a crazy radical, but his “metaphor” reflects reality.

Taking the bombs out of the closet, he put the discussion of the war on its proper level. One thing is the operations against Hamas in Gaza. Quite another would be an expansion of the war, with a possible entry of Iran into the conflict. In this case, the risk is different.

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