Israel's Nuclear Program

Israel has a covert nuclear weapons program, and has had it for decades. Israeli officials rarely confirm or deny the existence of nuclear weapons in Israel at all, however.  It is believed Israel achieved its first nuclear weapon in the late 1960s. Estimates on the number of nuclear weapons range between 80 and 400. Israel has the ability to launch them by land and submarine on Jericho missiles, it can likely deliver them by airstrike as well. 

Israel's nuclear program was confirmed in the 1980s by a whistleblower, nuclear scientist Vanunu Mordechai. He revealed secrets to the British press, and was subsequently lured to Italy and abducted by Mossad. He was tried and convicted in Israel behind closed doors. As punishment he served 18 years in prison and was released in 2004. He is effectively on house arrest to this day and is not permitted to leave Israel, talk to foreigners, and has his internet and phone calls monitored.

Nuclear material in a bomb mock up in a photograph released to the press by Mordechai.

Israel's nuclear weapons program is technically illegal, as the nation has not signed the Non-proliferation treaty and continues to produce nuclear weapons. The only comparable nation to Israel in this regard is North Korea. In 2015 Colin Powell said that Israel had 200 nuclear bombs "all pointed at Iran."

Israel would use the Jericho series of ballistic missiles to deliver a nuclear payload. The Jericho II and III are in service today. The Jericho II has a range of anywhere in the Middle East, while the Jericho III is an ICBM that could possibly reach even the US mainland.

The Jericho II long range ballistic missile.

The Jericho III ICBM.

Israel has several key nuclear sites, the most important of which is the Dimona nuclear reactor. Dimona is the center of the Israeli nuclear program and where the program began.

The Dimona nuclear reactor. It is heavily armored to guard against bombs and missiles.

The Sorek reactor is another nuclear site in Israel.

The Sorek nuclear reactor near the town of Yavne.

The location of some Jericho ballistic missiles in central Israel near Tel Nof Air Base. This may be the only Jericho site, unless Israel has hidden silos or submarine launched examples.

If Israel were to come under attack, and possibly be close to defeat, it has what's known as the Samson Option, "...taking out Israel's enemies with it, possibly causing irreparable damage to the entire world." Israel would launch nuclear bombs on its aggressor nation, but possibly all surrounding nations as well. It has been speculated that if the US and Europe failed to help Israel in defeat, then Jericho missiles would be targeting the nations of Europe and even the US mainland. Estimates for the range of the Jericho III missile varies, but some believe it is able to reach as far as the USA.

The Samson Option is not a conspiracy theory, at least at its core. Many military officials and historians admit it is real. One Israeli military historian claimed that: "We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force. Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: 'Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.' I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under."

An American Jewish author on the Samson option.

"Israel has been building nuclear weapons for 30 years. The Jews understand what passive and powerless acceptance of doom has meant for them in the past, and they have ensured against it. Masada was not an example to follow—it hurt the Romans not a whit, but Samson in Gaza? What would serve the Jew-hating world better in repayment for thousands of years of massacres but a Nuclear winter. Or invite all those tut-tutting European statesmen and peace activists to join us in the ovens? For the first time in history, a people facing extermination while the world either cackles or looks away—unlike the Armenians, Tibetans, World War II European Jews or Rwandans—have the power to destroy the world. The ultimate justice?"

Israel should be considered a dangerous nuclear power along with North Korea. Until Israel signs the nonproliferation treaty and disengages with the doctrine of destroying the world if it should be defeated, Israel should be a pariah nation like its analog, North Korea.