Bolstered by the nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York, criticisms of Iran and the ongoing Middle East peace process, renewed questions about Israel's unconfirmed nuclear capabilities have made fresh headlines in recent weeks.
The Jewish state has always maintained a policy of ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, never confirming or denying their existence.
Yet there is nothing ambiguous about Israel's position in briefing notes given to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon when he took over the portfolio in October 2008 and obtained by Embassy under Access to Information.
"Pakistan, Indian, North Korea and Israel remain outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime despite the fact they possess nuclear weapons," the notes read. The documents also include a table listing all countries with nuclear warheads and with missiles exceeding 1,000 km—a list that includes Israel. The source for the chart is listed as the non-profit organization Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
While far from shocking, the notes strip another layer off Israel's open secret, and have some experts saying it's time for the Middle East country to come clean. Others, however, won't be holding their breath.
"Netanyahu and Israel should end the charade and admit what everybody else already knows, that they have nuclear weapons," said Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute, an Ottawa-based think tank focused on international and defence issues. "I don't think there is any advantage anymore for them to maintain this ambiguity. We all know they have nuclear weapons and now it is making Israel a nuclear outsider."
All 189 signatories of the NPT came forward with a UN declaration last week calling on Israel to sign the treaty and to open its nuclear facilities to UN inspection. The Israeli prime minister rejected the UN declaration, saying it unfairly singled out his country.
Meanwhile a poll in the Globe and Mail last month that asked readers whether they think Israel owns nuclear weapons showed that an overwhelming majority (95 per cent) believe that to be true, whereas only five per cent believe the country is bluffing.
Recent articles in the London newspaper the Guardian, also highlighted Israel's intention to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa during the apartheid era. The newspaper said its reporting was based on "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials of the two countries. Israeli officials denied the allegations.
James Devine, professor at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick and an expert on Middle Eastern security, was surprised the notes were released, but said Israel's possession of nuclear weapons has been common knowledge since the mid-1970s.
"I doubt those comments were meant for public scrutiny. They were meant to be internal," Mr. Devine said. "They should have probably been a little more careful either in terms of how they wrote them or what they did with those notes afterwards. Everybody's used to dealing with this nuclear issue in such a way that they got sloppy with it."
The Israeli Embassy refused to comment.
Trevor Findlay, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and director of the Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, however, wasn't convinced that the briefing notes represent a smoking gun.
"Israel continues to deny it has nuclear weapons, but the rest of the world assumes that they do, including Canadian civil servants, apparently," Mr. Findlay said. "But the whole debate at the NPT conference assumed Israel has nuclear weapons."
Mr. Findlay said unless there is a peace settlement in the Middle East, Israel won't loosen this policy of ambiguity because state officials believe it works in the country's security interest.
Doug Ross, political science professor at Simon Fraser University, agreed.
"I'm not interested in trying to score points on the Canadian government and say 'Aha, here you are being deceptive and devious.' I think it's irrelevant," he said. "The real issue is how to try to create conditions by which Israelis will be persuaded to give up their nuclear arsenal—that's the tough issue."