Armageddon in the Holy Land? Israel’s Nuclear Weapons Program, Mordechai Vanunu, and the Coming War on Iran

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Last month, the United Nations voted on a resolution calling for Israel to end its not-so-secret nuclear weapons program.  The results were conclusive with more than 152 countries voted in favor of Israel ending its nuclear weapons program and joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities.  There were only five countries who voted against the resolution and that included the United States, Canada, Israel, Palau, and Micronesia.  In the case of Palau and Micronesia, I would be willing to bet that they were most likely either bribed or blackmailed in some way or another to vote in favor of Israel.

Granted, the world in concerned about the Russia-Ukraine conflict and should be, but President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation is a rational actor because their nuclear weapons posture clarifies that they are for defensive purposes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation released a statement on the Prevention of Nuclear War which does say that “In implementing its policy in the field of nuclear deterrence, Russia is strictly and consistently guided by the postulate of the inadmissibility of a nuclear war in which there can be no winners and which must never be unleashed. Russian doctrinal guidelines in this area are very clearly outlined, they are purely defensive in nature and do not allow for broad interpretation.”  According to The Jerusalem Post, even US President Joe Biden admitted in a CNN interview that “Putin is a “rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” and was asked if Putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon, and Biden’s response was “Well, I don’t think he will.”

However, most of the world knows that Israel and its leadership is full of radical idealists and religious fanatics that have nuclear weapons at their disposal and that could lead the world into an Armageddon-type scenario in the Middle East.  In the King James Version of the bible, Armageddon is mentioned in Revelation 16:16 and says “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”  Armageddon is where the final battle takes place during the end times between the forces of good and evil, it is where ‘God comes and wages war against the kings of the earth.’  The location of where Armageddon takes place is at the ‘Hill of Megiddo’ which is an important town of ancient Palestine that overlooks the Plain of Esdraelon (Valley of Jezreel) and southeast of Haifa in northern Israel.  For humanity, Armageddon means the last days of our existence, if of course, the US and its NATO allies allow Israel to use its nuclear weapons arsenal to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.  But who is good and who is evil in this coming war to end humanity depends upon your perception of historical events that have taken place more than 2000 years ago in the Holy Land, or you can go to recent events that took place in 1948 when Palestine became Zionist-occupied land now called Israel, but that is up to you.    

The idea of nuclear weapons is something that I wish we could eliminate from the face of the earth, but the reality is that several countries have nuclear weapons, and they are not going anywhere, anytime soon.  Those who have nuclear weapons include the United States, France, the UK, Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan and of course, Israel who has not publicly declared that they have nuclear weapons.  However, I am concerned about two countries who would no doubt, use nuclear weapons to further their agendas and that is the United States, and the other is Israel who I believe is radical enough to use a nuclear weapon on their adversaries.  As we all know, the United States was the first country in the world to use Atomic Bombs on Japan during World War II, the first bomb was used on Hiroshima and was made of uranium and the other bomb that was used on Nagasaki was made from plutonium.  On August 6th, 1945, the US dropped its first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima killing more than 140,000 people with many more who died from radiation-related illnesses months later.  The second bomb was dropped on August 9th, 1945, on the city of Nagasaki where an estimated 74,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands more suffered from the aftermath.

The US was the first country in the world to use weapons of mass destruction, now we have Israel who has a doctrine that should be a concern to all of us who know about it, and it’s called the Samson Option which refers to when the Philistines who captured and then tortured Samson who was involved in the massacre of the Philistines in a battle.  Samson was a biblical figure who pushed the pillars of the Philistine temple causing it to collapse, thus killing thousands of Philistines and killing himself in the process.  Journalist and author Seymour Hersch published an eye-opening account on the danger of Israel’s foreign policy in ‘The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy’ which explains what Samson represents for Israel:

In Israel’s history, a reference to the decision of more than nine hundred Jewish defenders — known as the Zealots — to commit suicide in a.d. 73 rather than endure defeat at the hands of the Romans.

In its place, argued the nuclear advocates, would be the Samson Option. Samson, according to the Bible, had been captured by the Philistines after a bloody fight and put on display, with his eyes torn out, for public entertainment in Dagon’s Temple in Gaza. He asked God to give him back his strength for the last time and cried out, “Let my soul die with the Philistines.” With that, he pushed apart the temple pillars, bringing down the roof and killing himself and his enemies. For Israel’s nuclear advocates, the Samson Option became another way of saying “Never again”*

The Yum Kipper War: How the Middle East almost became Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Not too many books mention that Israel almost used nuclear weapons in the Yum Kipper war of 1973.  However, Hersch mentioned in his book about the early outcomes of the Yum Kipper war when Israel considered using its nuclear weapons against Egypt and Syria which would have turned the Middle East into a nuclear wasteland.  With that said, the state of Israel would have never lived in peace with its Arab neighbors as a consequence because if the Arabs were attacked with nuclear weapons, their only mission in life then, and well into the future would be solely to fight and destroy Israel at all costs:

The first days were a stunning rout. Israeli soldiers were being killed as never before; some units simply fled in disarray from battle. Five hundred tanks and forty-nine aircraft, including fourteen F-4 Phantoms, were lost in the first three days. In the Sinai, Egyptian forces, equipped with missiles and electronic defenses, blasted through the Bar-Lev defense line along the eastern bank of the canal and soon had two large armies on the eastern bank. The initial Israeli counterattacks by three tank divisions were beaten off”. On the Golan Heights, Syrian forces, bolstered by fourteen hundred tanks, rolled through Israeli defenses and moved to the edge of Galilee. Only a few Israeli tanks stood between the Syrians and the heavily populated Hulla Valley. Haifa was just hours away

Hersch went on to explain how Golda Meir’s ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ decided to call for a nuclear alert, in other words, they were ready to launch nuclear strikes against Egyptian and Syrian forces:

Many Israelis thought it was all over — that, as Moshe Dayan said, “this is the end of the Third Temple.” The extent of Dayan’s panic on Monday, October 8, has never been fully reported, but it is widely known among Israelis. One of Dayan’s functions as defense minister was to provide the censored media and their editors-in-chief with a daily briefing on the war — in essence, to control what they wrote. One journalist, a retired army general, who attended the Monday session, recalled Dayan’s assessment: “The situation is desperate. Everything is lost. We must withdraw.” There was talk in a later meeting of appeals to world Jewry, distribution of antitank weapons to every citizen, and last-ditch resistance in the civilian population centers. It was Israel’s darkest hour, but no withdrawal was ordered.

Instead, Israel called its first nuclear alert and began arming its nuclear arsenal. And it used that alert to blackmail Washington into a major policy change.  Moshe Dayan’s fears and Israel’s gloom were turned around during a dramatic meeting on Monday, October 8, at Golda Meir’s office in Tel Aviv, just a few hundred feet from “the Bor,” the military’s huge underground war complex.  Meir’s closest aides, the so-called kitchen cabinet, assembled for what turned out to be an all-night session. Among those in attendance, besides Dayan and Meir, were General David (Dado) Elazar, the army chief of staff; Yigal Allon, the deputy prime minister; Brigadier General Yisrael (Gingy) Leor, the prime minister’s military aide; and Israel Galili, the influential minister without portfolio and longtime confidant of Meir

The first targets included both Egyptian and Syrian military headquarters:

The kitchen cabinet agreed that the nuclear missile launchers at Hirbat Zachariah, as many as were ready, would be made operational, along with eight specially marked F-4S that were on twenty-four-hour alert at Tel Nof, the air force base near Rehovot. The initial target list included the Egyptian and Syrian military headquarters near Cairo and Damascus. It could not be learned how many weapons were armed, although Dimona was known to have manufactured more than twenty warheads by 1973

Fortunately, nuclear strikes in the Middle East never took place.  On October 3rd, 2013. The Times of Israelpublished an interview by nuclear historian Avner Cohen ‘Dayan pushed PM Meir to consider using nuclear weapons in 1973 war’ explained why the idea of striking Egyptian and Syrian forces with nuclear missile launchers was dismissed by Golda Meir and her advisors:

The interview, which was conducted several years ago by nuclear historian Avner Cohen, was formally made public late Thursday on the website of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It is emerging 40 years after the Yom Kippur War — and precisely as the world focuses attention on Iran’s rogue nuclear program, which Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly this week is aimed at developing nuclear weapons

According to Cohen, the discussion between Golda Meir and members of her kitchen cabinet were as follows:

Galili and Allon, Meir’s closest advisers, determinedly batted the nuclear idea away, Azaryahu says, shouting that, “We shouldn’t panic…”

And Meir, indeed told Dayan — who “kept his hand on the door handle the entire time, as though this were a sort of conversation between friends” — to forget about the idea.

Dayan replied, “OK, if that’s what you say, I accept [it]. I’m going”

The world was spared from a nuclear disaster in the Middle East, but will the world be spared again from another threat of Israel possibly using its nuclear weapons against Iran?

The Return of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Far-Right Extremists of Israel

If you thought Benjamin Netanyahu’s career in Israeli politics was finished, you were wrong.  As extreme as Benjamin Netanyahu is, the Israeli people see him as a warrior willing to fight those evil Muslims who just want to kill the Jewish people and eventually destroy Israel.  In a recent article published by The Times of Israel ‘Netanyahu ally: I believe he’ll strike in Iran if nuclear talks fail, US doesn’t act’ claims that Netanyahu will act on Iran if the US fails to get a nuclear deal based on terms that will only benefit Israel and its Western allies.  According to Tzachi Hanegbi, a far-right Likud MP and a former minister who made a claim that Netanyahu will order a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if a new Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement is not on favorable terms in relation to Israel’s security interests:

Speaking to Channel 12 news on Friday, Tzachi Hanegbi said that in such a situation, Netanyahu “will act, in my assessment, to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran.”

Hanegbi, a longtime Likud MK and former minister who is not expected to make it into the next Knesset (after placing 46 on the party’s slate in primaries), has made threats of a potential Israeli strike in the past to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon

What Hanegbi said next is what will happen if no nuclear deal under Israel’s terms is in place and that will leave Netanyahu with no choice, “It’s my assessment, based on my over 35 years of knowing Netanyahu… When there is no choice, someone needs to take command — it will be Netanyahu.” 

Here is something to consider regarding Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program that Israel is very concerned about. Although its a hyperbole, but if Iran were to strike Israel with a nuclear bomb, won’t it kill Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians and the Lebanese people as well? I mean let’s face it, if Iran were to be that reckless in launching a nuclear weapon within the Middle East, of course they would be killing its enemies in Israel but at the same time, they will be killing their allies that surround Israel and that will not benefit Iran at all. The Iranian government and its people are not irrational people who would do something that crazy. It would have irreversible consequences for all Arabs worldwide.

One other Israeli extremist worth mentioning is Itamar Ben-Gvir who is the leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party and is expected to be in Netanyahu’s new government coalition after winning recent elections. Al Jazeera’s article ‘World is worried about far-right Ben-Gvir: Israeli President’ focuses on Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s comments on Ben-Gvir which is striking “You have a partner who the entire world around us is worried about. I have also said this to him,” Herzog continued “You are going to have a problem with the Temple Mount. That is a critical issue” meaning that under Ben-Gvir, far-right Israelis will be allowed to create more  tensions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  Last May, hundreds of Israelis entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque during a nationalist flag march that increased tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.  In other words, the return of Benjamin Netanyahu, along with the new Israeli government coalition that includes the Jewish Power Party with its leader Itamar Ben-Gvir who is an extremist fanatic sets a dangerous precedent in Middle East politics.

There is one other problem for Iran and that is the pro-war establishment who serve Israel and the Military-Industrial Complex in Washington.  Whoever wins the 2024 US Presidential elections, whether it is a Republican such as Donald Trump who was the most pro-Israel president in modern times, or a Ron DeSantis who is a neoconservative or basically any Democrat, including the possible return of Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden being re-elected by some miracle, the point is, whoever becomes US President, it is guaranteed that there will be a US-Israel coalition that will be willing to green-light an attack on Iran because both Democrats and Republicans are pro-Israel and are absolutely controlled by one of the most powerful lobbies’ in Washington, D.C. and that is AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee).

Since Trump is running for re-election, it is important to understand who he represents.  Here is what Trump said in 2021 in a radio interview with conservative talk show host Ari Hoffman, “The biggest change I’ve seen in Congress is Israel literally owned Congress — you understand that — 10 years ago, 15 years ago. And it was so powerful. It was so powerful. And today it’s almost the opposite,” continued “you have between AOC (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and [Rep. Ilhan] Omar — and these people that hate Israel. They hate it with a passion — they’re controlling Congress, and Israel is not a force in Congress anymore. I mean, it’s just amazing. I’ve never seen such a change.” Trump concluded “and we’re not talking about over a very long period of time, but I think you know exactly what I’m saying. They had such power, Israel had such power — and rightfully — over Congress, and now it doesn’t. It’s incredible, actually” There is irony in Trump’s statement and that’s because it is true that Israel owns the US congress, but what Trump said about Israel’s “rightful” power over congress should be enough to consider who he actually works for.

Peace Activist, Whistleblower, and Traitor to Israel:  The Plight of Mordechai Vanunu 

Mordechai Vanunu is a Moroccan-born Israeli citizen who was a former nuclear technician and peace activist who exposed Israel’s nuclear weapons program in detail to The Sunday Times of Londonin 1986.  Vanunu was the whistleblower who was drugged and kidnapped by Mossad agents and treated like a terrorist in an Israeli prison cell where he spent more than 11 years out of 18-year prison sentence in solitary confinement. To this day, Vanunu is seen as a traitor to Israel.  On April 21st, 2004, The New York Times published an article about Vanunu’s release from prison ‘Israeli Who Revealed Nuclear Secrets is Freed’ and said that “Mr. Vanunu, 49, is returning to a society where he appears to be as widely reviled today as in 1986, when he was kidnapped by Israel’s intelligence service in Rome after granting a detailed interview on Israel’s clandestine nuclear program to The Sunday Times of London.”Upon his release, Vanunu declared to the press “to all those calling me a traitor, I’m proud and happy to do what I did.”  As much as I hate to say it, but what I call “the toilet paper of record”, the New York Times was somewhat honest about Israel’s nuclear weapons program:

Before Mr. Vanunu spoke out, it was widely assumed that Israel had nuclear arms. But to this day, Israel refuses to confirm or deny possessing such weapons under its policy of “nuclear ambiguity.”  Based on Mr. Vanunu’s information, nuclear experts estimated Israel possessed between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons. More recent estimates are in a similar range.

Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has adamantly rejected international inspections. Israel argues that it needs a plausible deterrent threat in a region where its says several countries, including Iraq, Libya and Iran, have tried, or are still trying to develop nuclear arms.  But critics say that Israel, with the tacit backing of the United States, has been allowed to develop a large nuclear arsenal in secret, while the Americans have insisted that other Middle East countries be prevented from building weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. Vanunu said Israel did not “need the nuclear arms, especially now when all the Middle East is free from nuclear weapons”

In 1979, Vanunu enrolled at Ben-Gurion University and was considered a radical student-activist because he was critical of the Israeli government’s internal and external policies.  Vanunu opposed the 1982 Lebanon War but was drafted as a reservist in the Engineering Corps but he refused any participation on the field and opted for kitchen duty.  As a peace activist, he fought for the equal rights for Arab Israelis.  He had aligned himself with Arab students who were also pro-PLO activists and that was something of a taboo for Israeli society.  What was interesting about Vanunu was that he had resented the dominance of Ashkenazi Jews and the Jews of European origin in Israeli society as he witnessed discrimination against the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa.  Vanunu also felt that he was a victim of discrimination in the Dimona facility because he was born in Morocco.

Regardless of what the Israelis or the Americans think of Mordechai Vanunu, he is truly a hero who sacrificed himself to expose Israel’s nuclear weapons capabilities.  Now that a new far-right extremist government coalition is about to take place in Tel Aviv, the danger of a nuclear strike against Iran is a real possibility in the future since Israel is the ‘loose cannon’ in the region. The New York Times also published what Vanunu said about his secrets regarding Israel’s nuclear program to the media:  

But Mr. Vanunu said he had divulged all his secrets in the interview with The Sunday Times, where he provided photos and described his nine years at Israel’s nuclear complex in the southern town of Dimona, in the Negev Desert.

“My secret is dead,” he said in fractured English, refusing to speak Hebrew. “My case is dead. Everything was published.”

And published indeed, here is a video by an Israeli news magazine who created a 3-D version of the Dimona Nuclear Weapon’s factory.  Just in case the video is removed, here is another platform to download the video:

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Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his own blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

All images in this article are from SCN


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About the author:

Timothy Alexander Guzman is an independent researcher and writer with a focus on political, economic, media and historical spheres. He has been published in Global Research, The Progressive Mind, European Union Examiner, News Beacon Ireland, WhatReallyHappened.com, EIN News and a number of other alternative news sites. He is a graduate of Hunter College in New York City.

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