EX-KNESSET SPEAKER CONFIRMS ISRAELI NUCLEAR WEAPON

        Haifa, 4 Safar 1435/7 December 2013 (MINA) – A former Israeli Knesset (parliament) speaker, Avraham Burg confirms that Israel has nuclear weapons, urging the regime to openly acknowledge their possession.

       Avraham Burg also called for an end to the regime’s policy of ambiguity in this regard.  Israel has “an obligation to hold a public and courageous debate about them. Enough with the ambiguity,” he said during a conference on nuclear weapons in Haifa, the Palestinian region which is occupied by Israel.

       The conference which was held in the northern city of Haifa was also attended by the mayor of the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Press TV reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

       Describing the policy of ambiguity as “outdated and childish,” Burg further said that nuclear weapons are a political liability and long-term danger. He said Israel must choose between nuclear weapons for all or for none.

       The Israeli regime is widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with up to 400 undeclared nuclear warheads.

        Tel Aviv has rejected global calls to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not allow international inspectors to observe its controversial nuclear program.

        In September, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) expressed grave concern over Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal.

        Israel is widely believed to possess weapons of mass destruction, and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

        The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment has recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared chemical warfare capabilities, and an offensive biological warfare program. Officially Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing nuclear weapons.

         It is believed that Israel had possessed an operational nuclear weapons capability by 1967, with the mass production of nuclear warheads occurring immediately after the Six-Day War.  Although no official statistics exist, it has been estimated that Israel possesses from 75 to as many as 400 nuclear weapons, which are reported to include thermonuclear weapons in the megaton range.

         Israel is also reported to possess a wide range of different systems, including neutron bombs, tactical nuclear weapons, and suitcase nukes. Israel is believed to manufacture its nuclear weapons at the Negev Nuclear Research Center.

         Israel is also believed to have developed an offensive biological warfare capability. The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment records Israel as a country possessing a long-term, undeclared biological warfare program.

         Israel is not a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It is assumed that the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona develops vaccines and antidotes for chemical and biological warfare. It has not been possible to conclude whether Israel currently maintains an offensive biological weapons program; it is speculated that Israel retains an active ability to produce and disseminate biological weapons.(T/P04/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)