Arab League Chief Unmasks US Deal to Shield Israel’s Nukes

CAIRO: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has revealed a long-standing “secret agreement” between the United States and Israel, under which Washington pledged to stay silent about Israel’s undeclared nuclear weapons program in exchange for Israel’s commitment to permanent secrecy.

In a televised interview with Egypt’s Sada El-Balad TV, Aboul Gheit said, “The agreement stipulates that Israel will never speak about its nuclear arsenal, no matter how many centuries pass, while America promises to remain silent.”

He accused Washington of deceiving Arab nations, recalling how US officials once urged Egypt to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in exchange for American pressure on Israel to do the same — pressure that never came.

Aboul Gheit explained that the global silence over Israel’s nuclear capabilities stems from US protection, describing Israel as being “shielded by the world’s dominant military and political power since the fall of the Soviet Union.”

The Arab League chief, who previously served as Egypt’s foreign minister, said Cairo deliberately avoided ratifying certain chemical and biological weapons conventions because it saw “no need for a nuclear deterrent”, as the risks outweighed the benefits.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s long-standing call for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, saying that international inspections of Israel’s nuclear sites could soon become “inevitable.”

Aboul Gheit warned that such developments could spark a regional crisis, forcing the US to rethink its decades-long protection of Israel. He also noted that Israel “couldn’t even use its nuclear weapons during the 1973 war.”

His remarks coincide with new satellite imagery showing expanded construction at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, long believed to be the core of Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Images captured on July 5 by Planet Labs PBC show major new activity, including what analysts describe as deep underground construction with multiple levels, concrete retaining walls, and cranes — suggesting either a new heavy water reactor or a nuclear warhead assembly facility.

Experts who analyzed the images told The Independent that the site’s expansion is likely tied to Israel’s plutonium production program, which fuels nuclear warheads.

Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies said, “It’s probably a reactor — that judgment is circumstantial, but it’s hard to imagine it’s anything else.”

Israel maintains a policy of “nuclear ambiguity”, neither confirming nor denying its arsenal. It is one of only four countries not party to the NPT, allowing it to avoid international inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA confirmed that Israel is not required to disclose any information about nuclear sites other than the smaller Soreq Research Reactor near Tel Aviv.

According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (2022), Israel is estimated to possess around 90 nuclear warheads. The program dates back to the late 1950s, with the Dimona reactor as its centerpiece.

Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu first exposed the facility’s secrets in the 1980s, leading to global recognition of Israel as an undeclared nuclear power.

The recent construction surge comes shortly after joint US–Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, further fueling fears of an arms race in the Middle East.

With no transparency or international oversight, the expansion of the Dimona facility has renewed concerns over Israel’s growing nuclear capability and the potential consequences for regional and global security.

Aboul Gheit concluded that only open acknowledgment and international regulation of Israel’s nuclear program could prevent future instability, urging world powers to end their “double standards” on nuclear accountability.