Michael Arria
Mondoweiss / May 7, 2026
Over two dozen House Democrats have sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the Trump administration to break its silence on Israel’s nuclear weapons.
“The United States openly acknowledges the nuclear weapons programs of the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, China, and North Korea. We ask that Israel be held to the same standard as any other foreign country, and that the United States government speaks candidly about its potential nuclear weapons capabilities, whatever they may be,” reads the letter, which was led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX).
“We cannot develop coherent non-proliferation policy for the Middle East, including with respect to Iran’s civil nuclear program and Saudi Arabia’s civil nuclear ambitions, while maintaining a policy of official silence about the nuclear weapons capabilities of one party central to the ongoing conflict in which the United States is a direct participant,” it continues.
Signatories include Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Summer Lee (D-PA), and Ayanna Presley (D-MA).
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that Israel currently possesses between 90 and 300 nuclear warheads but, as the letter notes, the United States has a embraced a “policy of official ambiguity” on the issue, never publicly acknowledging that the weapons exist.
It’s obviously impossible to envision Rubio taking any action, but the effort has generated some mainstream attention for an issue that gets virtually none.
This week, CNN host Abby Phillip brought up the letter on the channel’s NewsNight program. While reading a list of Castro’s questions, she was interrupted by pundit Van Jones.
Phillip responded as anyone with basic knowledge of the subject would.
“There is a war between the United States, Israel, and Iran that is going on right now in the Middle East, and under those circumstances, that is actually different from what we’ve been experiencing for the last, you know, 40, 50 years,” she told Jones. “And so under those circumstances, there’s only one power in the Middle East that has a nuke, and it’s Israel.”
“So the question is, what are the circumstances?,” she continued. “What are the boundaries? Are there any boundaries? They don’t acknowledge that they have them, people know that they do, but are there any boundaries? I think that seems like a fair question to ask.”
“Why?,” Jones asked again, despite the fact that Phillip had just answered his question.
Last month, Mondoweiss ran a piece by Anna Illing on Israel’s secret nuclear program being at the heart of the Iran war.
“One of the many, often contradicting, motivations given by Trump to justify its joint attack with Israel on Iran was the danger represented by Iran’s weapons of mass destruction, for the sake of the region’s and the world’s safety. In his first statement on the war on February 28 he warned: ‘Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had, and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message,’” wrote Illing.
“No imagination is needed,” she concluded. “We have seen through the 70 years of Israel’s nuclear program what this threat looks like. And if the goal is to secure a nuclear-free region, then it is long overdue that we start talking about Israel’s nuclear arsenal.”
Jones’s predictable reservations aside, perhaps that discussion has finally begun.
Rutgers cancels graduation speech
Rutgers University has abruptly cancelled a planned graduation speech by business leader Rami Elghandour, the CEO of biotech company Arcellx and an alumnus of the school.
The school says they disinvited Elghandour after some students claimed they wouldn’t attend the ceremony because of his social media posts. Elghandour, who was an executive producer of the film The Voice of Hind Rajab, frequently posts about the genocide in Gaza and Israeli violence in the West Bank.
The move comes just days after the University of Michigan issued a public apology over remarks made at its commencement ceremony. During that speech, Derek R. Peterson, a history professor and outgoing chair of the faculty senate, commended “pro-Palestinian student activists who have over these past two years opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza.”
In his apology, University of Michigan president Domenico Grasso assured people that Peterson’s praise for anti-genocide protesters did not represent the schools “institutional position.”
“We regret the pain this has caused on a day devoted to celebration and accomplishment,” said Grasso.
Before he was disinvited from speaking, Elghandour actually shared a clip of the Michigan speech.
“Most people choose convenience,” he wrote. “Professor Peterson chose principle. True leadership. Much respect.”
“What is most puzzling to me is that they champion me for my humanitarian views and now they’re cancelling me for them,” Elghandour told The Guardian in an interview.
“I think (Palestine) is the moral issue of our time and I believe it’s been used to undermine democratic institutions in the US,” he continued. “We’ve seen a livestreamed genocide and we’re supposed to worry about the feelings of the people who support that.”
Michael Arria is Mondoweiss’ U.S. correspondents
