A group of 29 House Democrats has petitioned the Trump administration to come clean and acknowledge what has been described as an “open secret” among U.S. intelligence for nearly six decades, The Washington Post learned and reported on Tuesday.
That “open secret” is Israel’s nuclear weapons program, which the United States or Israel have never officially acknowledged but is widely believed to have been established in the late 1960s.
Israel is now believed to possess as many as 300 nuclear warheads, weapons that are vital to its “doomsday operation” known as the “Samson option,” a nuclear deterrence strategy that would see Israel launch an “all-out” nuclear attack on an adversary as a “last resort” were it invaded or at risk of destruction.
The more than two-dozen Democrats’ petition came in the form of a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was obtained by the Post, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), in which the lawmakers demanded transparency from the Trump administration.
“Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by any party to this conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios,” the letter reads, the Post reported. “We do not believe we have received that information.”
The request, according to Avner Cohen, a “leading historian on Israel’s nuclear program,” broke a taboo that held firm among U.S. lawmakers for nearly 60 years.
“This is something that people did not dare do before,” said Cohen, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, speaking with the Post. “Israel and the Bomb. Even raising these questions publicly is a departure from a bipartisan norm.”
The request represents the dramatic shift among Democrats with regards to Israel in the wake of its siege on Gaza – which countless human rights organizations have labeled a genocide – with 80% of Democratic voters now viewing Israel unfavorably, a significant increase from the 53% recorded in 2022.
The Trump admin did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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