30 House Democrats Request U.S. Acknowledgment of Israel's Nuclear Weapons in Letter to State Department

Joaquin Castro of Texas, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday requesting that the Trump administration publicly acknowledge Israel's possession of nuclear weapons. The letter, signed by 30 lawmakers, argues that the United States must end decades of official ambiguity on the issue amid the ongoing military conflict with Iran.

It states that Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by any party to the conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios, adding that lawmakers do not believe they have received that information.

The letter highlights the contradiction in President Donald Trump collaborating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a military campaign against Iran, whose stated goal is to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while refusing to acknowledge Israel's own program.

'We are, in the fullest sense, fighting this war side by side with a country whose potential nuclear weapons program the United States government officially refuses to acknowledge,' the letter reads.

It requests detailed information about Israel’s nuclear program and urges that Israel be held to the same standard of transparency that the United States expects from any other country pursuing or retaining nuclear weapons capability. S. allies including France and apartheid-era South Africa.

U.S. administration has publicly stated that the program exists, despite past acknowledgments from officials.

In 2023, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said using a nuclear bomb in Gaza was one of the possibilities after the October 7 attacks. The letter notes continued reticence from Trump administration officials. In March, Rep.

Castro asked Thomas DiNanno, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, to detail Israel’s nuclear capabilities at a congressional hearing, but DiNanno responded that he could not answer the question. The lawmakers argue that the United States openly acknowledges the nuclear weapons programs of the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, China, and North Korea, and ask that Israel be held to the same standard.

They add that the policy of silence harms nonproliferation efforts in the Middle East, citing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's statement that his country would seek nuclear bombs if Iran develops its own.

-led war in Iran, which began on February 28, 2026, with the objective of ensuring Tehran cannot build a nuclear weapon, as outlined by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. S. S.

Attack. Before the 12-day Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, intelligence agencies estimated Iran could produce enough bomb-grade uranium for a bomb in three to six months; that campaign pushed the timeline back by nine months to a year. S.

Military has largely avoided striking nuclear targets. At a Pentagon press conference on Tuesday, Hegseth dismissed a leaked intelligence memo on the assessments as speculation. 'We don’t discuss the specifics about intel… I can’t confirm or deny whether that is correct,' Hegseth said, while touting Operation Midnight Hammer for setting back Iran’s nuclear program.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales stated that while Operation Midnight Hammer obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities, the ongoing Operation Epic Fury has decimated Iran’s defense industrial base that protected its nuclear pursuits. During nine hours of congressional testimony last week, Hegseth said Iran had not given up its nuclear ambitions despite the prior operation.

Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, pressed Hegseth on the discrepancy. 'We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat.

U.S. at exactly the same place as before. Iran's foreign minister stated there is no military solution to a political crisis and called Trump's Project Freedom a Project Deadlock.

Israel's reported nuclear arsenal consists of about 90 warheads, according to assessments cited in the letter revealed by the Washington Post on Tuesday. When Israel secretly developed its program, the Nixon administration accepted it and protected Israel from international criticism, leading to a bipartisan consensus of official silence. S.

Law bans security assistance to countries failing to comply with international nuclear safeguards, which could require a waiver to maintain aid to Israel. Rep. S. shouldn’t refuse to disclose information about a foreign nation’s program simply out of courtesy when so much is at stake for American service members, the economy, and the country.

U.S. officials have frequently discussed the possibility that Israel would launch nuclear weapons if its air defense systems failed on a large scale, the Post reported. S.