> "...When former President Jimmy Carter revealed that Israel has more than 150 > nuclear weapons,
****** Regardless of Carter's motives, revealing Israel's massive arsenal, nearly equal to China's ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons ) is exactly what Israel wants: an explicit and credible statement about the extreme retaliatory and deterrent power of Israel, which Israel could not state itself without creating problems in its relationships, especially with the United States with its laws against supporting nuclear proliferation (a stance which is pretty much out the door after India and Pakistan). However, this is really a fool's game. Just as the U.S., after WWII, thought it was on top of the world due to its nuclear monopoly until the Russians and other burst that bubble, Israel's ability to threaten the Arab/Muslim world is only going to last a few more years until oil-rich states finance a much larger arsenal and no amount of diplomatic or military pressure is going to stop that.
