ABSTRACT
Media coverage of Israel's nuclear policy is heavily censored. Israeli nuclear policy is based on non-disclosure of the country's nuclear capability. Israel's formal position as enunciated by politicians and diplomats since the 1960sis that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weaponry into the Middle East region, which is tantamount to Israel not confirming whether it possesses the Bomb. The policy of ambiguity or non-confirmation has two primary origins. First, Israeli officials have long believed that confirmation of any nuclear capability would generate widespread public pressure within the Arab world to develop nuclear parity with Israel. Secondly, under the 1976 Congressional Symington Law, a US government is forbidden to provide economic assistance to any country developing a nuclear programme unless it is placed under international supervision. 'Ambiguity' should not be confused with nuclear secrecy. This chapter describes the growth in censorship from the earliest days of the nuclear project in the 1950s until today.
