Colin Powell Says Israel Has 200 Nuclear Weapons: Leaked Email
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM — Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a private email exchange that Israel has 200 nuclear warheads.
The exchange last year from Powell’s private Gmail account was leaked late last week by hackers, The Associated Press reported.
Powell told the AP Friday through a spokeswoman he was referring to public estimates of Israel’s nukes.
Powell is a retired Army general who has served as White House national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is not known whether he still retains a national security clearance. He resigned as secretary of state in November 2004, the last time he served in public office.
“Iranians can’t use one if they finally make one,” Powell, discussing nuclear weapons, wrote to Democratic donor Jeffrey Leeds, a hedge-fund founder who serves on the board of the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York. “The boys in Tehran know Israel has 200, all targeted on Tehran, and we have thousands,” read the email, one of thousands of his messages posted earlier this week to the website DCLeaks.com.
“Gen. Powell has not been briefed or had any knowledge from U.S. sources on the existence and or size of an Israeli nuclear capability,” said a statement issued by his spokeswoman, according to the AP. “He like many people believe that there may be a capability and the number 200 has been speculated upon in open sources.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
