How Israel Acquired Nuclear Weapons in Defiance of International Law
A French exposé reveals decades of secrecy, Western complicity, and strategic manipulation behind Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal and its exemption from global non-proliferation demands.
Watan-Titled “How Israel Acquired Nuclear Weapons Amid Total Secrecy and International Law Violations,” the French newspaper L’Humanité investigates how Israel built a covert nuclear arsenal while avoiding all accountability, and how successive U.S. presidents—including Donald Trump—refused to demand that Israel sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Instead, during Trump’s first term in 2019, the U.S. withdrew from the INF Treaty with Russia, paving the way for a lawless global arms race, the paper states.
Israel: The Middle East’s Undeclared Nuclear Power
L’Humanité notes that Israel has never officially acknowledged its nuclear weapons, nor has it ever allowed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of its facilities. Meanwhile, Iran, a signatory of the NPT since 1970, remains under relentless international scrutiny over transparency.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, estimates that Israel holds around 100 nuclear warheads—made possible by a French-backed program.
The French Connection: A Reactor and a Secret Pact
France reportedly sent hundreds of technicians to Israel in the 1950s and provided a 24-megawatt reactor, which laid the foundation for the Dimona nuclear complex. Construction began in 1958. Though Charles de Gaulle attempted to halt cooperation upon returning to power, the program had already advanced enough to continue independently.
According to ICAN’s latest report, Israel spent over $1 billion last year on its nuclear forces. The organization argues that Israel’s aggression toward Iran proves that “nuclear deterrence does not prevent war—it encourages it.”
Strategic Fear and Holocaust Leverage
The Dimona nuclear facility began operations in 1963, and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion played a pivotal role, using regional insecurity and Holocaust rhetoric to pressure European leaders.
Ben-Gurion believed Israel must prepare for the worst and rely solely on itself. Nuclear historian Avner Cohen explains that the idea of a defensive nuclear umbrella was a near-national consensus in Israel.
Shimon Peres, Iran, and the Nazi Comparison
Ironically, Shimon Peres, once seen as a peacemaker during the 1994 Oslo Accords, was a chief architect of Israel’s nuclear program. He publicly compared Iran to the Third Reich, claiming, “Iran is the most dangerous state because its clerics believe in the supremacy of their religion, as Hitler believed in the supremacy of the Aryan race.”
The article also highlights Ernst David Bergmann, the so-called “father of Israel’s nuclear program,” who once said:“I am convinced Israel must have its own defensive research program so that we are never slaughtered like lambs again.”
This view prevailed despite opposition from within Israel’s scientific community.
Mossad and the Silencing of Whistleblowers
Due to the high sensitivity of Israel’s nuclear file, Mossad abducted nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu in 1986 in Rome after he leaked details of the Dimona program to the media. He was sentenced in 1988 to 18 years in prison.
A rare official slip occurred in December 2006, when then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, during a visit to Germany, mentioned Israel’s nuclear capabilities while criticizing Iran.“Iran threatens to wipe Israel off the map. How can that be compared to countries like France, the U.S., Israel, or Russia having nuclear weapons?” he asked, unintentionally acknowledging Israel’s arsenal.
Just days earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said:“Iran is surrounded by nuclear powers: Pakistan to the east, Russia to the north, and Israel to the west.”
A Democratic Paradox
L’Humanité concludes by stressing the glaring contradiction in Israel’s nuclear opacity. As a country that brands itself as the “only democracy in the Middle East,” it continues to evade transparency, refuse IAEA oversight, and violate the spirit of non-proliferation.
Meanwhile, the international community—especially the U.S.—continues to ignore this nuclear exception, focusing pressure almost exclusively on Iran.
This double standard, the article argues, undermines global trust in nuclear law and emboldens militarization, while leaving Israel’s arsenal unchecked and unchallenged.
