Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Jimmy Carter Reveals Israel’s Nukes
In a move that a top Israeli called not “responsible,” former President Jimmy Carter said Israel has an arsenal of 150 nuclear weapons.
Israel has always refused to confirm or deny that it possesses nuclear weapons, and U.S. officials have generally avoided the issue, although most estimates have put the number of Israeli nukes at between 100 and 200.
During a appearance at a literary festival in Britain on Sunday, Carter discussed Iran and cited Israel’s nuclear weapons — and those of the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — in arguing that Iran would find it difficult to build, in secret, many weapons and the missiles to deliver them, the Times of London reported.
It was unclear whether Carter, in citing the Israeli arsenal, was drawing on U.S. intelligence he would have been able to access while in the White House.
Israel’s former military intelligence chief, retired Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi Farkash, warned that Carter’s remarks could encourage Iran to accelerate its development of nuclear weapons, Fox News reported.
Carter “is not the first and he won’t be the last to talk about this,” Farkash said in an interview with Israel Radio.
“He saw fit to say things which I think weren’t that responsible.
“He was a president a long time ago, and these kinds of things could do damage, but on the other hand, it could enhance the deterrent.”
Carter was widely criticized for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria in April, and for laying a wreath of red roses at the grave of Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.
In a move that a top Israeli called not “responsible,” former President Jimmy Carter said Israel has an arsenal of 150 nuclear weapons.
Israel has always refused to confirm or deny that it possesses nuclear weapons, and U.S. officials have generally avoided the issue, although most estimates have put the number of Israeli nukes at between 100 and 200.
During a appearance at a literary festival in Britain on Sunday, Carter discussed Iran and cited Israel’s nuclear weapons — and those of the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — in arguing that Iran would find it difficult to build, in secret, many weapons and the missiles to deliver them, the Times of London reported.
It was unclear whether Carter, in citing the Israeli arsenal, was drawing on U.S. intelligence he would have been able to access while in the White House.
Israel’s former military intelligence chief, retired Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi Farkash, warned that Carter’s remarks could encourage Iran to accelerate its development of nuclear weapons, Fox News reported.
Carter “is not the first and he won’t be the last to talk about this,” Farkash said in an interview with Israel Radio.
“He saw fit to say things which I think weren’t that responsible.
“He was a president a long time ago, and these kinds of things could do damage, but on the other hand, it could enhance the deterrent.”
Carter was widely criticized for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria in April, and for laying a wreath of red roses at the grave of Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.
