Michael
May 25th 2010, 02:27 PM
Revealed: how Israel offered to sell South Africa nuclear weapons
Exclusive: Secret apartheid-era papers give first official evidence of Israeli nuclear weapons
Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons.
The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.
The documents, uncovered by an American academic, Sasha Polakow-Suransky, in research for a book on the close relationship between the two countries, provide evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of "ambiguity" in neither confirming nor denying their existence.
The Israeli authorities tried to stop South Africa's post-apartheid government declassifying the documents at Polakow-Suransky's request and the revelations will be an embarrassment, particularly as this week's nuclear non-proliferation talks in New York focus on the Middle East.
They will also undermine Israel's attempts to suggest that, if it has nuclear weapons, it is a "responsible" power that would not misuse them, whereas countries such as Iran cannot be trusted.
A spokeswoman for Peres today said the report was baseless and there were "never any negotiations" between the two countries. She did not comment on the authenticity of the documents.
South African documents show that the apartheid-era military wanted the missiles as a deterrent and for potential strikes against neighbouring states.
The documents show both sides met on 31 March 1975. Polakow-Suransky writes in his book published in the US this week, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's secret alliance with apartheid South Africa. At the talks Israeli officials "formally offered to sell South Africa some of the nuclear-capable Jericho missiles in its arsenal".
Among those attending the meeting was the South African military chief of staff, Lieutenant General RF Armstrong. He immediately drew up a memo in which he laid out the benefits of South Africa obtaining the Jericho missiles but only if they were fitted with nuclear weapons.
The memo, marked "top secret" and dated the same day as the meeting with the Israelis, has previously been revealed but its context was not fully understood because it was not known to be directly linked to the Israeli offer on the same day and that it was the basis for a direct request to Israel. In it, Armstrong writes: "In considering the merits of a weapon system such as the one being offered, certain assumptions have been made: a) That the missiles will be armed with nuclear warheads manufactured in RSA (Republic of South Africa) or acquired elsewhere."
Source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons)
Well, the cat is out of the bag now. We not only have official proof/confirmation of the Israeli nuclear program, but we also have official proof/confirmation that Israel tried to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid era South Africa, in contravention of standing trade sanctions at that time.
This of course just points to the fact that Israel is exactly the kind of irresponsible nuclear power that Israel accuses Iran of wanting to be.
Fact is, Iran is not a nuclear power and has not been irresponsible with nuke weapons. Israel is and has been.
I thought Israeli irony hit rock bottom when they started referring to "Greater Israel" and the need for "living space" (both were famous Nazi PR slogans). Now we see Israel seeking to provide nuclear weapons to a Nazi-like 'white supremacy' racial regime. This is way beyond irony - this is just plain sick.
If my opinion of Israel's duplicity, hypocrisy and blatant military agression wasn't low enough already, it just hit rock bottom.
Israel has no integrity, no morality and respects only agressive military power. They are a rogue nation and an enemy of all freedom loving peoples.
When people say there is a "cancer" in the Middle East - I'm afraid they are right. Its name is Israel.
Exclusive: Secret apartheid-era papers give first official evidence of Israeli nuclear weapons
Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons.
The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.
The documents, uncovered by an American academic, Sasha Polakow-Suransky, in research for a book on the close relationship between the two countries, provide evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of "ambiguity" in neither confirming nor denying their existence.
The Israeli authorities tried to stop South Africa's post-apartheid government declassifying the documents at Polakow-Suransky's request and the revelations will be an embarrassment, particularly as this week's nuclear non-proliferation talks in New York focus on the Middle East.
They will also undermine Israel's attempts to suggest that, if it has nuclear weapons, it is a "responsible" power that would not misuse them, whereas countries such as Iran cannot be trusted.
A spokeswoman for Peres today said the report was baseless and there were "never any negotiations" between the two countries. She did not comment on the authenticity of the documents.
South African documents show that the apartheid-era military wanted the missiles as a deterrent and for potential strikes against neighbouring states.
The documents show both sides met on 31 March 1975. Polakow-Suransky writes in his book published in the US this week, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's secret alliance with apartheid South Africa. At the talks Israeli officials "formally offered to sell South Africa some of the nuclear-capable Jericho missiles in its arsenal".
Among those attending the meeting was the South African military chief of staff, Lieutenant General RF Armstrong. He immediately drew up a memo in which he laid out the benefits of South Africa obtaining the Jericho missiles but only if they were fitted with nuclear weapons.
The memo, marked "top secret" and dated the same day as the meeting with the Israelis, has previously been revealed but its context was not fully understood because it was not known to be directly linked to the Israeli offer on the same day and that it was the basis for a direct request to Israel. In it, Armstrong writes: "In considering the merits of a weapon system such as the one being offered, certain assumptions have been made: a) That the missiles will be armed with nuclear warheads manufactured in RSA (Republic of South Africa) or acquired elsewhere."
Source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons)
Well, the cat is out of the bag now. We not only have official proof/confirmation of the Israeli nuclear program, but we also have official proof/confirmation that Israel tried to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid era South Africa, in contravention of standing trade sanctions at that time.
This of course just points to the fact that Israel is exactly the kind of irresponsible nuclear power that Israel accuses Iran of wanting to be.
Fact is, Iran is not a nuclear power and has not been irresponsible with nuke weapons. Israel is and has been.
I thought Israeli irony hit rock bottom when they started referring to "Greater Israel" and the need for "living space" (both were famous Nazi PR slogans). Now we see Israel seeking to provide nuclear weapons to a Nazi-like 'white supremacy' racial regime. This is way beyond irony - this is just plain sick.
If my opinion of Israel's duplicity, hypocrisy and blatant military agression wasn't low enough already, it just hit rock bottom.
Israel has no integrity, no morality and respects only agressive military power. They are a rogue nation and an enemy of all freedom loving peoples.
When people say there is a "cancer" in the Middle East - I'm afraid they are right. Its name is Israel.