Dear Editor: Two incredible slips of the tongue occurred last week regarding the Israeli nuclear arsenal, an internationally acknowledged fact that Israel repeatedly neither confirms nor denies ("Does it have nukes? Israel won't say," Page A-17, Dec. 8).

Incoming Secretary of Defense Robert Gates offhandedly included Israel in a list of known nuclear powers. And in a televised interview with German TV, Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert said, "Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel and Russia?"

The simple fact is that Israel has had nuclear weapons for many years. But its lack of admission has thus far allowed the United States to play a fanciful game and avoid pressing Israel to comply with international regulations around nuclear weaponry. Ironically, it is that very same issue that has raised such high tensions with Iran. But Israel is permitted to stockpile nuclear weapons with no international oversight whatsoever -- indeed, with virtually no domestic oversight either.

Israel's Dimona nuclear facility, which is where the fissionable materials and weapons are produced, has been cited, quietly, in Israel in recent months as being potentially hazardous because of its age and disrepair. There are concerns about radiation leaks from the reactors and the potentially damaging consequences for those living near it. But of much greater concern are Israel's ambiguity and the fact that it is allowed to maintain its nuclear facilities with no regulation.

Gates' and Olmert's stark admissions should be followed by a congressional inquiry into Israel's nuclear arsenal and the threat it poses to peace efforts in the Middle East.

Aref Assaf

Paterson, Dec. 12

The writer is president of the Arab American Forum.