In a historic turn to the policy of ambiguity that Washington has always maintained for decades, a group of 30 Democratic legislators has sent a formal letter to the North American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, demanding that the United States Government officially recognize that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. This demand comes at a critical moment, marked by the current war between the coalition led by the US and Israel against Iran, extending throughout the Middle East.
Liberal legislators argue that it is “unsustainable” for Donald Trump’s administration to justify the military conflict, which began on February 28, under the premise of preventing Tehran from obtaining the bomb, while refusing to admit the existence of the vast arsenal of its main ally in the region.
“For almost six decades, the United States has voluntarily remained in the dark regarding Israel’s nuclear capabilities. The ambiguity ends now. There is too much at stake to accept ignorance. We are at war alongside Israel against Iran without knowing what its red lines are for the use of a nuclear weapon,” Texas representative Joaquin Castro, who leads the initiative, points out on the X social network.
The end of “nuclear opacity”
Since the 1960s, the Tel Aviv Executive has maintained a policy of “opacity”, neither confirming nor denying its atomic capabilities. Nor does it show any commitment by signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). For their part, successive US administrations, of all political stripes, have respected a tacit agreement not to press the issue. However, Democrats argue that this silence damages the credibility of nonproliferation efforts in the Middle East.
“We ask that the same standard that the United States expects of any other country that may be seeking or retaining nuclear weapons capabilities be applied to Israel,” the lawmakers told Rubio.
The letter emphasizes that maintaining this ambiguity makes a coherent policy in the region “impossible”, especially when countries such as Saudi Arabia have suggested that they would seek their own bomb if Iran develops its own, citing the regional balance of power.
The document not only calls for general recognition, but demands specific details about the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, the number of warheads (estimated at around 90) and whether Israel has communicated any “nuclear doctrine” or “red lines” for the use of these weapons in the current conflict with Iran.
“Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by either side of this conflict, and the administration’s planning for such scenarios. We do not believe we have received that information,” the text reads.
Movements in the past
Although Washington is officially silent, the letter reminds that senior officials have “broken the script” in the past. The case of Robert Gates is cited, who in his confirmation hearing in 2006 mentioned Israel as one of the nuclear powers surrounding Iran. Additionally, lawmakers recalled recent comments by Israeli officials, such as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who in 2023 went so far as to suggest the use of a nuclear bomb in Gaza as “a possibility.”
Analysts such as Josh Reubner, from the Institute for Middle East Understanding, point out to the Qatari television network Al Jazeera that it is legitimate to question why Israel’s program receives a “free pass” while the United States – also the possessor of these weapons and the only country in the world that has used them against Japan – imposes sanctions and launches military offensives to curb the ambitions of the ayatollah regime.
So far, neither the State Department nor Marco Rubio’s office has issued an official response to this unusual demand for transparency that threatens to alter one of the oldest pillars of the strategic relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv. But it already indicates that something is moving in the unwavering support that the US has given to Israel.
It also adds to the vote that took place last April in the North American Senate: yes, two resolutions were blocked that would have prevented the sale of bombs and excavators to Tel Aviv, for an approximate value of 450 million dollars, but with the greatest known opposition, unusual. A large majority of the 47 Democratic senators endorsed the texts, which revealed the growing frustration within that party over the impact on the civilian population of the Israeli attacks against Palestine, Lebanon and Iran.
