WhatsappIsrael is wisely ambiguous about it’s nuclear program. The less the world knows about it, the greater is Israel’s deterrence. There are many things in the world where transparency is exactly what is needed. Nuclear programs are not one of them. It is to Israel’s advantage that it’s neighbors are always aware that Israel MIGHT have enough power to blow them to smithereens if it chooses.
The reason why Israel’s legendary first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, was so insistent on Israel developing nuclear weapons was that he was keenly aware of one critical thing. He understood that Israel’s Arab neighbors never accepted the very existence of the Jewish State, and would do everything they could to destroy it. If Israel could develop one super weapon that could be used in the worst-case scenarios, it could very well save millions of lives, and with it the very existence of the Jewish State.
Was this really so necessary? Could not the State of Israel rely on the friendship of the United States or other friendly Western governments to come to it’s aid in it’s time of need? The answer is a big absolute NO! That is one of the many lessons of the Holocaust. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was raised on this concept and has repeated it constantly. The Jewish people may have many friends and supporters – around the world, and in many powerful positions. However, that also could have been said in the 1930’s and 1940’s. There is even ample evidence that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was rather friendly to the Jewish people he knew. One of his closest friends was his Secretary of Treasury, Robert Morgenthau, a Jew. But when push came to shove, there were deeply anti-Jewish people in key positions in the State Department and War Department, and they were more than happy to let Jewish people continue to be killed by Nazis. FDR and Churchill had “higher” priorities, and therefore did not intervene to bomb the railways. But even if they had, millions had been killed before the Allies approached Germany in 1944 and 1945. Despite all of it’s friends and supporters, the Jewish people can only rely on itself and G-d above for their security. The Holocaust is the ultimate proof of this. That is why the Israel Defense Forces, and the nuclear program are so critical for the safety and well-being of the State of Israel.
