In the latest indication that Israel's position in American politics is growing increasingly shaky,a group of 30 House Democrats have co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding that the US government finally acknowledge the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal. It's a milestone event: For decades, both parties have diligently co-conspired in avoiding such a confirmation, typically claiming ignorance on the rare occasions when journalists or citizens asked them about it.

MUST SEE: For many years, journalist@samhusseinihas tracked down high-level politicos in Washington, D.C. and asked them variations of the same question:“Do you know that Israel has nuclear weapons?”Watch as he presses John Negroponte, Mike Pence, John Kerry, the Biden and…pic.twitter.com/kDtFyZhA4i

Now we have dozens of House representatives asking the question."This is something that people did not dare do before,”Avner Cohen, a historian of Israel's nuclear program, told theWashington Post. “Even raising these questions publicly is a departure from a bipartisan norm.”

The letter puts the need for transparency in the context of the ongoing US-Israel-initiated war with Iran-- which was launched over the claim that Iran was on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon, a claim that clashes with the repeatedconclusionsof the US intelligence community. The letter emphasizes that many of the countries with stakes in the conflict -- including the United States, the UK, Russia, China and Pakistan -- are nuclear-weapon states.

“The risks of miscalculation, escalation, and nuclear use in this environment are not theoretical...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.”

Further violating the long-running bipartisan commitment to ignoring Israel's doomsday arsenal, thefour-page letterpoints to manyindicationsof that arsenal's existence, including revelations and photographs provided in 1986 by Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu, the contents of a formerly classified 1974 National Intelligence Estimate, and a statement-under-oath by then-Secretary of Defense nominee Robert Gates casually including Israel in a list of nuclear powers operating in the Middle East.

The letter culminates in a pointed list of questions. Among other things,the Democratic representatives demand to know what nuclear weapons capability Israel has, the country's enrichment capabilities, and its doctrine guiding the use of nuclear weapons.

ThePostreports thatthe Trump administration has been assessing Israel's potential to go nuclearin its joint war on Iran with the United States. "There is a low boil of unease about Israel’s nuclear program and what could compel them to use nuclear weapons short of facing a WMD attack,” a Trump administration official told thePost.One such scenario that US officials are said to "frequently" wring their hands over:An overwhelming barrage that causes an extraordinarily higher pace of Israeli civilian casualties.

The letter to Rubio was organized by Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro. Aswe reportedin March,Castro used a House hearing to put America's top arms control official on the spot, pointedly asking him, "Does Israel have nuclear weapons?" Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Thomas G. DiNanno repeatedly dodged and obfuscated, even claiming that "it would be outside of my purview as the arms control and arms proliferation under secretary to discuss that specific question."

We are four weeks into a war where both sides have targeted each other's nuclear facilities.We risk nuclear disaster. Yet the main Trump official on arms control refused to answer my question on Israel's nuclear capabilities and told me to ask the Israeli government.pic.twitter.com/Sxnru3EIrl

Source: ZeroHedge News