核武器与以色列

Israel's nuclear weapons delivery systems are estimated to include between 25 and 100 of the Jericho series of medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles, five Dolphin-class submarines, with a total of 20 launch tubes for the Popeye Turbo submarine-launched cruise missile, and one squadron each of F-15 and F-16 fighters. Israel is also believed to have developed neutron bomb warheads and nuclear artillery rounds.

Israel maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity, neither formally denying nor admitting to having nuclear weapons, instead repeating over the years that "Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East". Israel interprets "introduce" to mean it will not test or formally acknowledge its nuclear arsenal. Western governments, including the United States, similarly do not acknowledge the Israeli capacity. Israeli officials, including prime ministers, have made statements that seemed to imply that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, including discussions of use in the Gaza war. It is believed that nuclear command and control decisions, including launch authorization, must be jointly agreed by the prime minister and the minister of defense, and that Israel uses permissive action links to secure its warheads.

Citing security threats, Israel rejects consistent international pressure to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or to participate in negotiations of a Middle East weapons of mass destruction free zone. Under its Begin Doctrine, Israel carries out preventive strikes against regional actors it suspects of developing nuclear weapons. The Israeli Air Force conducted Operation Opera and Operation Orchard, which destroyed pre-critical Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors in 1981 and 2007, respectively. Israel and the United States have extensively targeted Iran's nuclear program, with airstrikes during their 2025 war and 2026 war, as well as malware and assassinations since 2010. The Samson Option refers to Israel's ability to use nuclear weapons as a deterrence strategy in the face of existential military threats to the nation.

Israel began to investigate nuclear-related science soon after it declared independence in 1948, and, with French cooperation, secretly began building the Negev Nuclear Research Center, a facility near Dimona housing a nuclear reactor and reprocessing plant in the late 1950s. During the Six-Day War, Israel aborted a plan to demonstrate a nuclear weapon in the occupied Sinai. There is some evidence Israel increased its nuclear readiness during the Yom Kippur War and the Gulf War. The 1979 Vela incident is widely suspected to have been an Israeli nuclear test, in collaboration with South Africa. The first extensive media coverage came via the 1986 revelations by Mordechai Vanunu, a former Dimona technician. Vanunu was soon kidnapped by Mossad from Italy, brought back to Israel, and imprisoned for 18 years for treason and espionage. Israel is also suspected to possess offensive chemical and biological weapons.

Missile defense

For long-range missile defense, the US and Israel jointly developed the Arrow 3, operational since 2017, which is capable of exoatmospheric mid-course interceptions. A total of 24 interceptors are planned for the system. The Arrow 3 could potentially operate as an anti-satellite missile. For early warning, as of 2012, Israel deploys at least three EL/M-2080 Green Pine radars, one of which is the more advanced Block-B/"Great Pine" variant.