FIRESTORM: OLMERT SHOCKS WORLD BY ADMITTING ISRAEL HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS

A dangerous moment.

By Joel C. Rosenberg

 (WASHINGTON, DC, December 12, 2006) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stunned Israelis and the Islamic world Tuesday by admitting that the Jewish state has nuclear weapons.

"Israel doesn't threaten any country with anything -- never did," Olmert told a German television network during his trip to Europe. "The most that we tried to get for ourselves is to be able to live without terror. But we never threatened any nation with annihilation....Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia [have]?"

Was it a slip of the tongue, or did Olmert mean to abandon Israel's decades-old policy of "strategic ambiguity," neither confirming nor denying having nuclear warheads? It's not yet clear, but it was a dangerous development. Why? Because it gives Iran, Syria, Russia and the Islamic world the ability to accuse Israel of having a double standard for saying Iran should not have nukes when Israel already does.

What's more, it comes on the heels of the new U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirming in sworn Senate testimony that Israel does in fact have nuclear weapons, a move that stunned insiders in Washington and Jerusalem.

Already, Olmert's comments have created a firestorm of controversy inside Israel, and calls for his resignation. Given the Prime Minister's already low standing in the polls (his approval ratings are hovering at a dismally low 20-25% after the Lebanon War), pressure could begin to build to bring Olmert's government down.

In The Ezekiel Option and Epicenter I write about the prospect of Russia, France and other nations calling for a U.N. resolution demanding a "nuclear free zone" in the Middle East, calling on Israel to give up her weapons of mass destruction within 30 days or risk facing an international coalition to disarm her, just as Iraq faced a U.S.-led coaliton in 2002. Olmert's remark -- slip or not -- now makes that prospect more likely. Indeed, a movement to force Israel to give up its strategic deterrance is growing. The U.N. recently linked Israel's nuclear weapons to the Iranian nuclear issue, and Jordan's King Abdullah II insisted earlier this year that Israel give up its nuclear weapons. This is a story to keep a close eye on.