A few months ago, over at the FPA Arms Control and Proliferation blog, William Sweet, Roger Scher, and I discussed the role Israel’s nuclear program plays in creating regional instability. In particular, Roger wrote, “the acquisition of nuclear weapons in the ME is not driven by Israel, but rather, by other factors…” Today, courtesy of Juan Cole, I came across a WikiLeaks cable that supports the opposite conclusion. The cable describes a meeting between Major General Mohammad al-Assar, the Egyptian Assistant to the Minister of Defense, and Dr. Colin Kahl, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. According to the cable:
[Al-Assar] reiterated the fact that Israel possesses unconventional weapons and sophisticated conventional weapons, which creates a regional imbalance and contributes to instability. He noted that stability in the region cannot be attained without balance of power…
Al-Assar brought up President Obama’s pledge to pursue a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. He called on the United States to not ignore the Israeli nuclear program. He stated that Israel’s nuclear program only gave Iran justification for creating its own nuclear weapons…
Al-Assar also outlines his concerns about Iran, and his fear about the destabilizing effects of Iran’s nuclear program. But he is clear that, in his view, Israel’s nuclear program is helping drive that of Iran.
