Towards a new Israeli nuclear posture? Strategic research note 9 - June 2014

Whereas an Israeli think tank (BESA) recently published an article which stated that time has come for Israel to get rid of its ambiguous position, and to assert itself as a nuclear power, the author outlines the main issues developed by the authors of this article. They consider that Iran has reached a threshold and will sooner or later develop a nuclear capacity. Therefore, preemptive strikes are useless and Israel will have to elaborate a strategic doctrine based on nuclear deterrence and on an active conventional defence. They state that this doctrine should comprise a ballistic antimissile defence (Arrow programme), a strengthened nuclear arsenal, an assumed deterrence strategy which should include relevant cyber-defences and emergent space technologies.