Israel has less oversight of its nuclear program than other Western democracies, a study by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, which was obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, concludes.
A summary of decades of work on the issue by Avner Cohen, a Professor of nonproliferation studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a Senior Fellow at CNS, and CNS Davis fellow Brandon Mok, but updated with recent developments, the study is being publicized just days before the issue of oversight goes before the High Court of Justice on Wednesday.
That Israel is more secretive is not surprising in light of its unique policy of possessing 80-200 nuclear weapons – according to foreign sources – but without ever formally declaring itself a nuclear power.
But the study shows comprehensively for the first time that the three Western democracies with nuclear weapons, the US, Britain and France, all manage to maintain a high level of secrecy while providing for comprehensive legislation and robust oversight that Israel does not have.
For example, all three NATO powers have a wide array of legislation governing their nuclear authorities, usually dividing issues between civilian and military uses. Israel has only executive orders issued by various prime ministers and cabinets.
All three countries also have multiple parliamentary committees that oversee the budgets, safety and other aspects of the nuclear agencies.
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