ISRAEL: Olmert appears to admit Israel has nuclear weapons

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared in an interview broadcast on Monday (December 11) to acknowledge Israel had atomic weapons or aspirations to acquire them, but government spokespeople denied that was his intent. Israel has long had a policy of neither confirming nor denying that it has atomic weapons. It is widely believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. "Israel doesn't threaten any country with anything -- never did," Olmert told SAT 1 in an exclusive interview recorded on Friday (December 8) in Jerusalem. "The most that we tried to get for ourselves is to be able to live without terror. But we never threatened any nation with annihilation." "Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to writ Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?" Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisen, who accompanied the prime minister on his diplomatic trip to Germany on Monday, said he did not mean to say that Israel possessed or aspired to acquire nuclear weapons. "No he wasn't saying anything like that," she said. Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said Olmert had meant to categorise the four nations as democracies to set them apart from Iran, and was not referring to their potential nuclear capabilities or aspirations. "Those countries are modern societies. He was distinguishing us as a democracy, as opposed to Iran, which has an extremist theological regime," Regev said. "The prime minister was saying you can't compare them to the nature of the regime in Tehran." Incoming U.S. Secretary of State Robert Gates told the Senate on Tuesday that Israel possessed atomic weapons. Olmert was also asked about Israel's stance regarding the proposal to deploy an international force in Gaza. "Do you want German soldiers to be killed in Gaza by terror? Do the Italians want their soldiers to be killed in terrorist actions in Gaza?" Olmert told SAT-1 Television station. "One has to understand what is this proposed idea about international force in Gaza, it has to be clarified and understood before we make up our mind about it. I don't say no to anything that can advance peace. But I'm not hastened to say yes to something that is not understood and which may prove to be very very damaging to the countries involved," Olmert replied. Israel and the Palestinians agreed on a ceasefire in Gaza which took hold end of November.

ITN Source | December 12, 2006

Tags:. .germany. .proposed. .proposal. .societies. .threatens