Israel modernizing nuclear capabilities, upgrading production facilities – report

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) believes that Israel has been working to modernize its nuclear weapons systems in recent months and has upgraded production facilities in southern Israel amid a worldwide trend of weakening nuclear diplomacy.

Israel has never publicly acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, but is widely believed to have around 90 in its arsenal, SIPRI assessed Tuesday in its annual report on the state of global armament and security, which examined developments throughout 2023 and until January 2024.

In addition to Israel, SIPRI examined the arsenals of the eight other nuclear-armed states – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea.

As of January 2024, there are an estimated 12,121 nuclear warheads held worldwide, the assessment found, of which some 9,585 are kept in military stockpiles for potential use. Israel is thought to own a relatively low number of warheads in comparison to the US and Russia, which possess a combined 90 percent of all nuclear weapons. READ MORE