UPDATED: December 17, 2019IRmep filed a 22-page federal lawsuit (PDF) to compel National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) presidential libraries to release Bill Clinton and George W. Bush-administration letters signed under intense Israeli government pressure. The letters were signed early during each presidential administration and promise the U.S. will not pressure Israel over its nuclear weapons program. Similar letters were signed by the Obama and Trump administrations, but those records are not yet legally accessible under the Freedom of Information Act or the Presidential Records Act.
Existence of the presidential letters was reported by Adam Entous in a June 19, 2018 report in The New Yorker , "How Trump and Three Other U.S. Presidents Protected Israel's Worst-Kept Secret: Its Nuclear Arsenal." Entous wrote: "The first iteration of the secret letter was drafted during the Clinton Administration, as part of an agreement for Israel's participation in the 1998 Wye River negotiations with the Palestinians. In the letter, according to former officials, President Bill Clinton assured the Jewish state that no future American arms-control initiative would "detract" from Israel's "deterrent" capabilities, an oblique but clear reference to its nuclear arsenal. Later, Israeli officials inserted language to make clear to Washington that Israel would "defend itself, by itself," and that it would, therefore, not consider the American nuclear arsenal to be a substitute for Israeli nuclear arms. George W. Bush, when he became President, followed Clinton's lead, signing a similar letter, former officials told me."
IRmep believes Israel's overall intention was to ensure that
presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump would violate the
Symington &
Glenn amendments
to the U.S. Arms Export Control Act which place
restrictions on foreign aid to foreign countries. Israel
has received more foreign aid from the United States,
demanded by its U.S. lobby, than any other foreign country.
The AECA requires special protocols—including cut-offs or
congressional waivers to avert cut-offs— for aid to non NPT recipients of
U.S. aid. By securing written pledges from each incoming
president, Israel also hoped to maintain a policy of
"ambiguity" as to whether it has nuclear weapons. By
insisting on maintaining such a "gray zone" Israel hopes to transcend
calls for international inspections and informed debate
about its arsenal. Israel apparently hopes the U.S. formally
will continue to refuse to talk
about Israel's nuclear weapons program as
fact, precluding other countries from raising questions of
Israel's number of weapons, deployment, waste
handling, and use doctrine. LEGAL DOCUMENTS
Defendant memorandum in
opposition to plaintiff’s cross motion for summary
judgment and reply memorandum in support of
defendant’s motion for summary judgment Plaintiff memorandum in
opposition to defendant’s motion for summary
judgement and reply memorandum in support of
plaintiff’s cross motion for summary judgement |
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