Why does Israel need nuclear weapons?

Born out of the Holocaust and surrounded by hostile neighbors, Israel’s self-preservation has always depended on a robust security apparatus. Since its founding in 1948, the Jewish state has been in a perpetual state of conflict.

For this reason, Israel has relied on foreign allies and indigenous engineers and production to secure its weapons arsenal. The Jewish state maintains its nuclear ambiguous status, however, it is commonly understood that the country indeed possesses nuclear capabilities.

Nuclear deterrence is the ultimate insurance policy, which many Israelis consider necessary for the country’s survival.

After the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II, other countries began conducting nuclear test explosions. The United Kingdom, France, China, and the Soviet Union soon took away America’s short-lived monopoly of the atomic bomb. In a joint effort to prevent the dangerous spread of nuclear technology, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) was produced in the late 1960s. While 191 states have signed the treaty to date, a few notably have not. In addition to North Korea (which withdrew from the treaty in 2003), Pakistan, and India, Israel is not an NPT signatory.

Israel’s nuclear development

Early on in Israel’s history, the Jewish state explored nuclear capabilities in an effort to offset the combined conventional superiority of its neighbors. Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, played a huge role in the country’s initial nuclear interests. As detailed by the New York Times, Ben-Gurion
“created a scientific department at the headquarters of the Haganah, the semi-official Jewish defense organization, and allocated it an annual budget of 10,000 mandatory pounds. In March 1948 the General Staff of Haganah (soon to become the Israel Defense Force, or IDF) formally recognized the scientific department as a staff unit in the operations branch. The new department was responsible for coordinating and assigning tasks to the newly created Ha’il Mada (Science Corps, known by the Hebrew acronym HEMED). The first commanding officer of HEMED, Shlomo Gur, recalls that HEMED was Ben-Gurion’s favorite military organization.”

Over the next two decades, a secret deal with France provided the Jewish state with a reactor, uranium, and a plutonium reprocessing plant at Dimona. Ultimately, France backed out and Israeli scientists completed the project independently. When the 1967 Six-Day War erupted, the Jewish state reportedly was able to assemble a rudimentary nuclear device. A few years later, Jericho-1 missiles loaded with nuclear weapons were allegedly put on high alert when the IDF initially struggled to fend off incoming surprise attacks at the Golan Heights and in the Sinai Desert by hostile forces.

Stockpiles and upgrades

The Jericho-1 missile featured a range capable of striking Egypt and Syria if launched from the Negev. According to CSIS, the Jericho-1 could carry a payload of up to 650 kg, “reportedly equipped with a 450 kg high explosive warhead, a 20 kT nuclear warhead or potentially a chemical warhead.” Over the years, several Jericho variants have emerged, each more powerful than the last. Today, industry experts estimate that Israel possesses 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads in its arsenal, with enough plutonium to develop more if necessary.

Israel and its top adversary Iran have been engaged in a shadow war for years, however, Tehran’s escalating proximity to acquiring its own nuclear capabilities has left Israeli officials concerned. If hostilities continue to ramp up, Israel’s long-standing nuclear opacity could change.