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Speaker 0 asks about President Kennedy’s efforts to prevent nuclear war, specifically his attempt to stop David Ben Gurion, then prime minister of Israel, from developing a nuclear weapon at the Demona site, noting that Kennedy demanded inspections of the Demona site and that Ben Gurion resigned as prime minister as a result of the controversy. What happened there?
Speaker 1 responds that Israel was avoiding oversight, while Kennedy thought proliferation of nuclear weapons was incredibly dangerous and was concerned about preventing other countries from acquiring them. This concern contributed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), whose goal was to prevent spread, among other aims. With regard to Israel, Kennedy believed that if Israel was an ally and the United States preached nonproliferation to the world, the U.S. needed to act consistently in its approach to Israeli nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, Israel proceeded with its program; the first functional Israeli nuclear weapon is thought to have been developed in 1966, which was before the NPT was negotiated, signed in 1968, and entered into force in 1970.
Speaker 0 asks how many nuclear-armed states have signed the treaty.
Speaker 1 answers that the treaty recognizes five nuclear-weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. These are the five that had declared arsenals up to that point. Israel had begun its program, and at this point is thought to have about 90 nuclear warheads. The five recognized states were all members of the United Nations with veto power in the Security Council. China and France did not join the treaty until 1992.
Speaker 0 adds: So the other nations would be India, Pakistan, North Korea.
Speaker 1 confirms: There are four others. So nine nuclear-armed states in total, five recognized by the United Nations, and all five are members of the UN Security Council with veto power. Then the four outside the treaty include Israel, which has a unique policy of ambiguity about an undeclared nuclear arsenal. It is thought to be about 90 nuclear warheads.
Speaker 0 asks for confirmation.
Speaker 1 confirms: Yes, absolutely. There is no doubt about whether or not they have them.