Israel and weapons of mass destruction

Common card · No. 279025

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is believed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel is also suspected to possess chemical and biological weapons. Israel is the only United Nations member not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Biological Weapons Convention, or the Chemical Weapons Convention, although it signed the latter in 1993. Israel's stockpile is estimated at 90 to 400 nuclear weapons. It is speculated to operate a nuclear triad of delivery options: by over 200 F-16 and F-15I fighters, by submarine-launched cruise missiles aboard five Dolphin-class submarines, and by 25 to 50 Jericho medium and intercontinental range ballistic missiles. Its first deliverable nuclear weapon is estimated to have been completed in late 1966 or early 1967, which would make it the sixth nuclear-armed country. Israel maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity, choosing not to formally deny or admit the extent of its nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare...

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