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NEWS BRIEFS
The Knesset Debates Israel's Nuclear Program
Pakistan Establishes Nuclear Control Body
Russia Extends Nuclear Umbrella to Belarus
Russia Denies Lowering Nuclear Threshold
The Knesset Debates Israel's Nuclear Program For the first time in its history, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, held a discussion of Israel's nuclear program February 2. Issam Mukhul, an Arab member of the communist Hadash Party, spurred debate on the controversial and previously off-limits subject by petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court to allow a hearing in the face of stiff opposition from the Knesset leadership. But before the Supreme Court could rule, the leadership agreed to a very limited public airing of the issue.
The abbreviated debate, which lasted just under one hour, featured loud exchanges between angry parliamentarians who objected to public discussion of the nuclear issue, and Mukhul and other Arab members who strongly criticized the program on environmental and security grounds. Chaim Ramon, the government's minister for Jerusalem affairs, reiterated Israel's long-standing policy that it would not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.
While neither Israel nor the United States has ever officially acknowledged the existence of an Israeli nuclear weapons program, Israel is widely considered a de facto nuclear weapons state. Estimates of the size and composition of the Israeli arsenal vary from 50 to hundreds of warheads. Israel is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Pakistan Establishes Nuclear Control Body
On February 3, Pakistan's National Security Council announced the establishment of a new body responsible for creating policy regarding the development and use of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The new organization, dubbed the National Command Authority (NCA), will "exercise employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and strategic organizations" and was described as an "institutionalized command and control mechanism consistent with Pakistan's obligations as a nuclear power" by the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
The organization houses two primary committees, the Employment Control Committee (ECC) and the Development Control Committee (DCC), both led by head of state General Pervez Musharraf and dominated by military officials. The ECC will develop policy for the deployment and use of nuclear weapons and is composed of the foreign minister, the minister of the interior, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), the service chiefs, the director-general of the Strategic Plans Division, and any necessary technical advisors. The DCC will guide the technical aspects of the development of weapons and command and control systems and is made up of the CJCSC, the service chiefs, the director-general of the Strategic Plans Division, and other yet-to-be named representatives of the strategic organizations and the scientific community.
No statement of nuclear weapons policy accompanied the announcement on the NCA. Pakistan has not disclosed a doctrine for the use or development of nuclear weapons, though it has repeatedly declined to offer a no-first-use pledge. Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup on October 12, reiterated this stance in an interview with Indian television on February 7. "I have said very clearly that nuclear power cannot be used, should not be used. However, when national integrity is threatened, then we will take a decision at that time," he said.
Russia Extends Nuclear Umbrella to Belarus
In a February 5 statement, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko indicated that Russia had agreed to extend its nuclear umbrella to Belarus, according to Russian press reports. Although Russian officials have not formally confirmed Lukashenko's statement, they have not issued a denial. Russia and Belarus have "harmonized" a range of economic and judicial institutions since the countries agreed to a long-term merger in 1996. The most recent treaty, signed by Lukashenko and then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin on December 8 and formally adopted on January 26, included provisions for military cooperation. A complete merger between the two countries is expected to take up to a decade to be finalized.
Russia Denies Lowering Nuclear Threshold
A month after issuing a policy document that appeared to expand the circumstances under which it would consider using nuclear weapons, Russia denied assertions that its new national security concept lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Such claims are "untrue," according to a February 15 statement by Sergei Ivanov, secretary of Russia's Security Council, as quoted by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The concept, signed by Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 10, contemplated the use of nuclear weapons "to repulse armed aggression, if all other means of resolving the crisis have been exhausted." Russia's previous concept, adopted in 1997, only discussed using nuclear weapons "in case of a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation." (See ACT, January/February 2000.)
In the coming months, Russia is expected to finalize a new military doctrine—intended to complement the security concept and to replace the military doctrine adopted in 1993—that will further elaborate on Russia's nuclear-use policy. The Russian Security Council approved the new doctrine on February 4, but it will remain subject to further revision before being presented to Putin for signature.
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