Democrats in Congress Urge State Department to Disclose Information on Israel's Nuclear Capabilities

A group of Democrats in the United States Congress have called on the State Department to break the U.S. government’s longstanding silence on Israel’s nuclear capabilities. In a letter sent to the secretary of state, the lawmakers pointed to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran as the reason more clarity is urgently needed.

While Israel is believed to have possessed nuclear weapons since the 1960s, it maintains a policy of nuclear opacity and has never officially confirmed the existence of its nuclear weapons program and arsenal, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

The White House has also long maintained ambiguity on the issue, despite a handful of glancing admissions. Lawmakers in Congress have launched several coordinated public efforts for greater transparency amid decades of bipartisan support for Israel.

"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 this conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios," the letter, signed by 30 members of Congress, said.

The lawmakers particularly focused on the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, long believed to be the core of Israel’s nuclear programme. The letter asked whether Israel possesses enrichment capabilities and at what level, appealing for details on both fissile material and plutonium production.

It also inquired whether Israel, which is not a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, has articulated to the U.S. any nuclear doctrine, red lines, or thresholds for nuclear use in the context of the current conflict with Iran.

The letter further asked if the administration has received any assurances from Israel that nuclear weapons will not be used and whether there have been any indications of Israel planning to use or deploy nuclear weapons during the recent Iran conflict or during other conflicts.

Several former U.S. officials, Israeli whistleblowers, and unclassified U.S. intelligence documents have for decades shed light on Israel’s alleged nuclear programme. Documents show that in 1968, the CIA told then-U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that Israel had developed or was capable of developing a nuclear weapon.

President Richard Nixon then reportedly struck an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in which Israel agreed not to acknowledge or test its nuclear arsenal in exchange for Washington ending oversight pressures. Israeli nuclear technician-turned-whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu leaked evidence of the Negev Nuclear Research Centre to the United Kingdom’s Sunday Times in a landmark report.

The letter noted that the public record strongly and consistently supports the conclusion that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. It pointed to a 1974 U.S. Special National Intelligence Estimate and several statements by U.S. and Israeli officials, including former defence secretary nominee Robert Gates, who listed Israel as one of the world’s powers with nuclear weapons in 2006 testimony.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative estimates that Israel has 90 nuclear warheads, a plutonium stockpile of 750 to 1,110kg, six submarines capable of launching nuclear weapons, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching 4,800 to 6,500km.

Individual lawmakers have previously called for more transparency on Israel’s nuclear weapons. Concerted congressional pressure on U.S. presidential administrations has been rare. The letter comes as lawmakers from both parties have increasingly questioned Washington’s close ties to Israel amid the conflict in Gaza and the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.

In April, 40 Democratic senators voted in support of a bill to block the sale of military bulldozers to Israel. While the measure failed, it was described by advocates as historic. The Trump administration has said that preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is a key objective in its conflict with Tehran, which has for years denied seeking such a weapon.