Power & Market

Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal: A Controversial Reality

Israel nuclear weapons
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Israel is a nuclear armed state! Some claim it has 90-400 nuclear warheads and has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). One Knesset Minister revealed the truth of their military nuclear arsenal. The junior Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu publicly considered dropping a nuclear bomb over Gaza, which some took to be a tacit admission that Israel possesses such a weapon.

The NPT is an international treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, promoting cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and furthering the goal of nuclear disarmament. The treaty was opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force on March 5, 1970 and extended indefinitely in 1995. The NPT has 190 parties, with a few countries—including India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and South Sudan—not being parties to the treaty. All those countries, except Sudan, are nuclear-armed states.

The NPT is considered the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. The treaty’s three pillars are non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It establishes a safeguard system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify compliance. Israel is not a signatory to the NPT and has no inspection of its nuclear arsenal. Ironically, Iran was a signatory and has had inspections by the IAEA up to being attacked by Israel on Friday 13th June 2025.

In fact, it is reported by Iranian PressTV that the IAEA inspections were used to share intelligence with the US and Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The IAEA is now barred. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter stated that those IAEA inspections were how the names and locations of Iran’s senior nuclear scientists were gathered and then given to Israel, which targeted them for assassination. The IAEA was meant to be non-partisan but, in fact, is run by the imperialist cabal.

As of 2025, nine countries are known to have nuclear weapons:

  1. The United States (5,400 nuclear warheads, with 1,744 deployed);
  2. Russia (about 6,000 warheads, with 1,584 deployed);
  3. China (410-500 warheads);
  4. France (about 290 warheads);
  5. The United Kingdom (120-260 warheads);
  6. India (about 160 nuclear weapons and producing more);
  7. Pakistan (about 170 nuclear weapons and producing more);
  8. North Korea (about 20-30 assembled warheads, and producing more); and
  9. Israel (90-400 warheads) although it does not officially acknowledge it.

A nuclear-threshold state, also known as a nuclear-latent state, is a country that possesses the technical capabilities and fissile material needed to quickly develop nuclear weapons, but has not yet done so. These states have the infrastructure, expertise, and materials to produce nuclear weapons, but they may choose to refrain from doing so for various reasons, including international pressure, non-proliferation commitments, or strategic considerations.

Several countries are considered nuclear-threshold states. Japan is often cited as a “paranuclear” state—with the technical capability to develop a nuclear weapon quickly, sometimes described as being “one screwdriver’s turn” away from the bomb.

Iran is another notable nuclear-threshold state, with allegedly an advanced nuclear program capable of producing fissile material for a bomb in a matter of days if weaponized. But that has been totally refuted by Iran which has accepted open inspections for two decades now. Other countries that have been identified as nuclear-threshold states include Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil.

The concept of a nuclear-threshold state is important in the context of nuclear non-proliferation efforts. While some states may possess the technical ability to develop nuclear weapons, they may choose to remain non-nuclear for strategic or diplomatic reasons. Nuclear-threshold states are currently:

  1. Japan: A “paranuclear” state with the technical capability to develop a nuclear weapon quickly.
  2. Iran: Considered a nuclear-threshold state with an advanced nuclear program capable of producing fissile material for a bomb in a matter of days (or months or a year or so).
  3. Canada: Identified as a nuclear-threshold state with the technical capabilities to develop nuclear weapons.
  4. Germany: Considered a nuclear-threshold state with the necessary infrastructure and expertise.
  5. The Netherlands: Identified as a nuclear-threshold state with the technical capabilities to develop nuclear weapons.
  6. Brazil: Considered a nuclear-threshold state with the necessary infrastructure and expertise.

For 30 years Netanyahu has been saying that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within a few weeks or months, even though every IAEA inspection and US intelligence report since 2003 has said Iran is not producing a nuclear weapon. If the US and Israel just preemptively attacked Iran on the pretext of eliminating their ability to produce a nuclear weapon, why have they not also bombed Japan, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil?

Japan apparently can produce a nuclear weapon so fast that it would only need to “tighten one screw” and they would have it. In 1999, a “criticality” accident occurred in Japan. It occurred in a high-tech plant in Tokai-Mura, 150 km North-East of Tokyo, making Uranium-235 enriched fuel for research reactors.

The operations consisted in pouring uranium powder (enriched at 18.5% of uranium-235 and previously dissolved in nitric acid) in a container also containing nitric acid. This container normally had an adapted geometry preventing the development of a chain reaction.

To not waste time and finish the work faster, the technicians responsible for the preparation poured in one entire go the enriched uranium in the container. They inserted 16.6 kg of enriched uranium, seven times more than the recommended 2.4 kg guaranteeing the absence of any risk of criticality. In doing this, they exceeded the critical mass, triggering an explosion of gamma and neutrons.

That signaled a fission reaction. The material was normally kept dilute in a large container so this wouldn’t happen (i.e., exceed the critical mass). The exceeding of the critical mass set off the beginning of an atomic explosion, but thankfully the chain reaction stopped very quickly. While working in Japan in a research lab I told about this incident. Also, I was told that Japan has everything ready to make a nuclear bomb; it just needs to be assembled. So why hasn’t Japan been pre-emptively attacked to destroy their nuclear ambitions? The hypocrisy is rife!

Except for Iran and Brazil, the empire controls those other threshold states. Iran and Brazil are in the BRICS group, which means they are moving away from using the US dollar. Will Brazil be next? If Iran is crippled, the big two giants of BRICS—Russia and China—will be easier to subjugate and control. But they are both nuclear-armed states, so I think the empire may have met its match.

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