The BBC is reporting: “Ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said Israel has at least 150 atomic weapons in its arsenal.

“The Israelis have never confirmed they have nuclear weapons, but this has been widely assumed since a scientist leaked details in the 1980s. …

“Mr. Carter gave the figure for the Israeli nuclear arsenal in response to a question on U.S. policy on a possible nuclear-armed Iran, arguing that any country newly armed with atomic weapons faced overwhelming odds.”

PHYLLIS BENNIS
A fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis said today: “Once again, Carter has shown that ex-presidents — at least some — have more courage than sitting officials at almost any level. Acknowledging what the whole world knows — that Israel controls a powerful nuclear arsenal — is an important contribution given the U.S.-driven lopsided discourse on Iran, which of course does not have a nuclear arsenal. Like our own, Israel’s nuclear weapons remain a major provocation and major contributor to the nuclear and weapons of mass destruction arms race across the region.”

Bennis has written extensively on the Mideast as well as the United Nations. She just wrote the primer “Iran in the Crosshairs: How to Prevent Washington’s Next War.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167