Olmert admits that Israel has nuclear weapons

FIRESTORM: OLMERT SHOCKS WORLD BY ADMITTING ISRAEL HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS

UPDATE: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stunned Israelis and the Islamic world Monday by admitting that the Jewish state has nuclear weapons. "Israel doesn't threaten any country with anything -- never did," Olmert told a German television network during his trip to Europe, according to various news reports. "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 wipe 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 [have]?"

Was it a slip of the tongue, or did Olmert mean to abandon decades of Israel's policy of "strategic ambiguity," neither confirming nor denying having nuclear warheads? It's not yet clear, but it was a dangerous development. Why? Because it gives Iran, Syria, Russia and the Islamic world the ability to accuse Israel of having a double standard for saying Iran should not have nukes when Israel already does. What's more, it comes on the heels of new U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates shocking Washington and Israel by confirming in sworn Senate testimony that Israel does in fact have nuclear weapons. Already, Olmert's comments have created a firestorm of controversy inside Israel, and calls for his resignation. Given the Prime Minister's already low standing in the polls (his approval ratings are hovering at a dismally low 20-25% after the Lebanon War), pressure could begin to build to bring Olmert's government down.

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