Israeli Nuclear Arsenal Large, Author Says

Israel possesses a nuclear weapons arsenal far larger than the United States has suspected and has gone on full nuclear alert three times in the past, according to a new book.

“The Samson Option,” by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, is to be published today.

The New York Times reported on the book in today’s editions.

Hersh writes that Israel now possesses 300 or more nuclear warheads mounted on artillery shells, in land mines on the occupied Golan Heights and on missiles. Israel also has hundreds of low-yield neutron warheads--weapons designed to kill people but leave property undamaged, he says.

U.S. intelligence has estimated Israel’s nuclear arsenal at fewer than 100 weapons, the paper reported.

“America’s policy toward the Israeli arsenal was not just one of benign neglect; it was a conscious policy of ignoring reality,” Hersh writes.

Hersh also says the Israelis have gone on full nuclear alert--meaning nuclear missiles were wheeled out of silos and put on launchers--three times: twice during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and once earlier this year when Israel was under attack by Iraq.

Israel has never acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, although the United States and other countries have long maintained that it does.

Other authors have written about Israel’s nuclear program, but the newspaper said many of Hersh’s specific allegations are new.

Hersh also charged that the Israelis once built a false control room and other fake sites to trick American inspectors into believing they were being used solely as research facilities.