'Israel armed itself with nukes 40 yrs back'

"The Israeli nuclear option had a single aim -- to demonstrate to the opposing camp that we had the same capacities as it (for) the day when they will have the nuclear option," said former science minister Yuval Neeman in an interview with the daily Yediot Aharonot.

The Jewish state has never formally acknowledged having nuclear weapons although foreign experts believe it used its desert Dimona reactor to arm itself with some 200 nuclear warheads capable of being carried by medium- or short-range missiles.

Neeman added: "We were convinced that Arab states would not hesitate to make use of the nuclear option against us" once they had atomic bombs.

The former minister, who was also a senior military intelligence officer and a distinguished scientist, said: "Never did we see this option as a way to get results which more conventional methods would have enabled us to attain."