The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel's Bargain with the Bomb » (New Edition)

Avner Cohen has been a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a senior research scholar with the University of Maryland. He has published on subjects as varied as political theory, skepticism, nuclear ethics, nuclear proliferation, and Israeli history. He is the author of Israel and the Bomb and the coeditor of Nuclear Weapons and the Future of Humanity and The Institution of Philosophy.

Israel has made a unique contribution to the nuclear age—it has created (with the tacit support of the United States) a special "bargain" with its bomb. Israel is the only nuclear-armed state that keeps its bomb invisible, unacknowledged, opaque. It will only say that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East.

The bomb is Israel's collective ineffable—the nation's last taboo. This bargain has a name: in Hebrew, it is called amimut, or opacity. By adhering to the bargain, which was born in a secret deal between Richard Nixon and Golda Meir, Israel creates a code of nuclear conduct that encompasses both governmental policy and societal behavior. The bargain lowers the salience of Israel's nuclear weapons, yet it also remains incompatible with the norms and values of liberal democracy. It relies on secrecy and opacity. It infringes on the public right to know and negates the notion of public accountability and oversight, among other offenses.

Author of the critically acclaimed Israel and the Bomb, Avner Cohen offers a bold and original study of this politically explosive subject. Along with a fair appraisal of the bargain's strategic merits, Cohen provides a critique of its antidemocratic faults. Arguing that the bargain has become increasingly anachronistic, he calls for a reform in line with domestic democratic values as well as current international nuclear norms. Most important, he believes the old methods will prove inadequate in dealing with a nuclear Iran. Cohen concludes with fresh perspectives on Iran, Israel, and the effort toward global disarmament.

The New York Times - Ethan Bronner

Unlike most critics of Israel's nuclear policy Mr. Cohen supports its decision to build and maintain the bomb. But he says that refusing to acknowledge this arsenal or foster internal discussion about it is now counterproductive…Agree or not—and Mr. Cohen acknowledges that a vast majority in Israel considers opacity a success—this exploration of the issues is thoughtful, measured and deep, and very much worthy of wide consideration.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Amimut as a National Nuclear Bargain

Abbreviations

1 The Birth of Amimut 1

2 The Case for Amimut 34

3 Israel's Nuclear Path: The Key Decisions 56

4 The Infrastructure of Amimut 88

5 The Citizenry: The Taboo Keepers 121

6 The Democratic Cost of Amimut: The Impact on the Citizenry 147

7 The Democratic Cost of Amimut: Governance 171

8 Domestic Reforms 203

9 Iran, the Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), and Beyond 214

10 Toward a New Bargain 241

Epilogue 259

Notes 265

Bibliography 333

Index 357