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Front Burner
Front Burner

Israel’s open nuclear secret

May 21, 2026 · 00:29:24

About This Episode

<p>Earlier this month, 30 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the Trump administration with a remarkable request: to publicly acknowledge that Israel has nuclear weapons.</p><p> </p><p>Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East. But unlike other nuclear powers, Israel has never officially acknowledged its arsenal.</p><p><br /></p><p>That nuclear policy is known, in Hebrew, as “amimut” or opacity. And for decades the United States has largely gone along with it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Today, historian Avner Cohen, author of ‘Israel and the Bomb’, joins us to explain how Israel built its nuclear program in secret, and why that silence still matters today.</p><p><br /></p><p>For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts</a></p>

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