Israel has never used its reactors for generating electricity. Along with America, Russia and China, Israel is one of the few countries believed to have mastered the nuclear “triad”. It can deliver nuclear weapons as bombs dropped from an aircraft, as warheads on a land-launched missile (since the 1970s) and on missiles fired from submarines.
Nuclear experts estimate that Israel has between 80 and 200 warheads, more than enough to deter would-be attackers. The dilemma facing Israel is whether to close the ageing reactor that helped build them. If it does, it would be unlikely to get the materials needed to build a new one, since it has never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which came into force in 1970.
For nearly six decades, Israel’s policy of “nuclear opacity” has served it well. Its Arab neighbors are convinced it is a nuclear power, but Israel clings to the ambiguous formulation that it “will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the region”, neither acknowledging nor denying its capabilities. With powerful neighbors still openly advocating its destruction, the Jewish state will keep its doomsday weapons.