Recent Admission of Israel's Nuclear Capacity Has Jerusalem Worried

There is a lot of speculation and mistrust that surrounds Israel's nuclear capacity. While never made public, it is a reasonably well-known secret that Israel has nuclear weapons. Breaking with that tradition recently was Washington's chief nuclear arms negotiator, Rose Gottemoeller, who officially called on Israel to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty. Israeli officials have responded by claiming to be puzzled by the remarks Gottemoeller made during her speech to an international conference.

The United States, via the Central Intelligence Agency, has supposedly known about Israel's nuclear capacity since 1968. In exchange for discretion about the nuclear weapons, Israel agreed not to test a bomb or declare itself a holder of nuclear weapons. However, the Obama administration has made it one of their goals to make sure all nations with nuclear weapons adhere to the Non Proliferation Treaty, which will come up for review again in 2010.

Originally signed in 1968, then put into force in 1970, the Non Proliferation Treaty holds as its objective preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, as well as the intent to pursue the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament in the future.

In its upcoming review in 2010, the Obama administration is dedicated to trying to bring as many countries into the treaty-including North Korea and Iran-as possible, in an effort to stop another global arms race. Part of the plan is to hold all states accountable for transparency about their nuclear arsenals, and that includes Israel.

Israel is currently the recipient of about a quarter of the United States' foreign aid budget, as well as about half of the foreign military budget, both of which would be expressly forbidden were the federal government to openly acknowledge that Israel has nuclear weapons. According to the Non Proliferation Treaty, countries who did not sign the treaty, but have since developed nuclear weapons (such as Israel), would be ineligible to receive any foreign or military aid.

It is as yet unclear whether the Obama administration is going to continue to pursue Israeli transparency about their nuclear weapons, as well as what will happen to the aid allotted there if it does. The only certainty at the moment seems to be an emphasis on reigning in the nuclear arms race, especially in the Middle East, in preparation for the next review of the Non Proliferation Treaty in 2010.

In addition, as the Obama Administration has previously stated that they would like to seek a compromise that could make peace in the Middle East possible, the acknowledgment of Israel's nuclear capacity is going a long way to showing the Arab nations that Obama is willing to be even-handed when it comes to negotiations.

In response to Gottemoeller's recent declaration, as well as shifting policy in the Middle East in general, senior officials in Jerusalem have expressed worry about a decline in cooperation between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. They are calling on both governments to work more closely with each other, as the recent changes in both countries' leaderships may be causing the disconnect.

Washington negotiator calls on Israel to sign nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, www.guardian.co.uk

Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), www.un.org