Israel’s nuclear arsenal used as a tool of blackmail, says expert

John Steinbach of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee detailed the hidden aspects of Israel’s secret nuclear program during a panel hosted by the Schiller Institute. Steinbach asserted that Israel’s nuclear arsenal is not merely a defensive tool but a mechanism of blackmail, primarily used to coerce other nations, particularly the US, into adopting its preferred policies.

John Steinbach of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee of the National Capital Area detailed the history and current status of Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program at an online panel organized by the Schiller Institute titled True Citizens of Every Nation Demand Peace.

Steinbach emphasized that Israel’s nuclear arsenal extends beyond the “Samson Option”—a doctrine aimed at global destruction if Israel’s existence is threatened. He described it as an active tool of blackmail used to compel other nations, particularly the US, to act in line with Israeli interests.

Steinbach stated that Israel currently possesses between 100 and 500 advanced thermonuclear and neutron bombs. He also noted that Israel has a sophisticated delivery system, including Jericho 1, 2, and 3 ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US east coast and beyond Moscow, as well as at least six nuclear-capable Dolphin-class submarines supplied by Germany.

‘The real goal is to coerce the US’

Citing author Israel Shahak, Steinbach explained that the primary goal of Israel’s nuclear program is to “freeze the status quo in Israel’s favor,” a policy specifically targeting the US.

Steinbach quoted Francis Perrin, the former director of France’s nuclear program, who said, “We thought the Israeli program was aimed at making the Americans do what they wanted.”

Steinbach noted that this coercive policy was first blatantly applied during the 1973 war. “The Israelis threatened to use nuclear weapons unless the US carried out a massive airlift,” he said. “Kissinger and Nixon reluctantly complied, the airlift took place, and the world was put on nuclear alert.”

Nuclear program origins and French collaboration

Steinbach explained that the foundations of Israel’s nuclear program were laid by David Ben-Gurion with the vision that the Holocaust should never be repeated. A young deputy minister, Shimon Peres, was appointed to lead the program, with Ernst Bergmann serving as its scientific head.

The program gained significant momentum in the mid-1950s with a research reactor acquired from the US, and Steinbach highlighted the collaboration with France that began during the same period.

“Israel was a full partner in the French program. We must understand that the Algerian tests in the 1950s and early ’60s were actually joint Israeli-French tests,” Steinbach assessed. He added that France also assisted in the construction of the Dimona reactor, knowing it was a plutonium production facility despite being publicly presented as a civilian research reactor.

The mock facility that deceived Kennedy

Steinbach mentioned that US Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy were strongly opposed to Israel acquiring nuclear weapons and were highly suspicious of the program. He described the deception Israel employed when Kennedy demanded an inspection:

“Israel took extreme measures. When the inspectors arrived, everything they saw was a complete sham. They were never shown the real parts of the Dimona complex; they were shown a mock-up. The inspectors went back and reported that the facility was for civilian purposes.”

Steinbach added that Kennedy was determined to stop the program but was assassinated shortly thereafter.

Vanunu’s revelations changed the game

Steinbach emphasized that while Israel pursued a policy of “nuclear ambiguity” for years, everything changed when Mordecai Vanunu, a technician at Dimona, leaked photographs and documents to the Sunday London Times. The conclusions reached by Manhattan Project bomb designers Frank Barnaby and Ted Taylor, who reviewed the documents, were shocking.

“They estimated at the time that Israel possessed nearly 200 nuclear weapons,” Steinbach said. “More importantly, they determined that Israel had not only atomic bombs but also hydrogen bombs and miniaturized nuclear weapons that could be easily paired with warheads. This was a massive failure for the intelligence community.”

Steinbach also mentioned that joint nuclear tests were conducted with South Africa, that most of the uranium for the program was sourced from South Africa, that yellowcake uranium was supplied by Germany, and that there is strong evidence of enriched uranium being smuggled from the Numec facility in Pennsylvania, US.

‘IAEA has become a nest of spies’

In his concluding remarks, Steinbach sharply criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arguing that the organization has been “hollowed out and become a nest of spies.”

“This situation has fatally undermined the credibility of the IAEA, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the United Nations,” he stated.

Steinbach claimed that Egyptian diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei was an honest IAEA director, but the US deliberately had him removed, transforming the agency into its current state.