Olmert Seeks to Clarify Nuke Arms Remark

JERUSALEM -- Israel's prime minister spent Tuesday trying to put the nuclear genie back in the bottle, after a slip of the tongue in an interview was interpreted as confirming Israel has atomic weapons _ widely assumed to be true, but never officially acknowledged.

In an interview with a German television station broadcast Monday, Olmert appeared to list Israel among the world's nuclear powers.

Asked by the interviewer about Iran's calls for the destruction of Israel, Olmert replied that Israel has never threatened to annihilate anyone.

"Iran openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map," Olmert said. "Can you say that this is the same level, when you are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?"

Israel, which foreign experts say has the sixth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, has stuck to a policy of ambiguity on nuclear weapons for decades, refusing to confirm or deny whether it has them.

Speaking in Germany, Olmert denied Tuesday that he had "outed" Israel's nuclear program.

"Israel has said many times _ and I also said this to German television in an interview _ that we will not be the first country that introduces nuclear weapons to the Middle East," Olmert said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "That was our position, that is our position _ nothing has changed."

The comments came days after incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in testimony to a Senate committee, identified Israel as a nuclear power.

With Olmert's comments featured on the front pages of all of Israel's major papers Tuesday and with political rivals calling for his resignation, aides to Olmert hurriedly said the remark had been misinterpreted.

Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin said the prime minister had been listing not nuclear states but "responsible nations."

The premier's office said the quote, made in English, was taken out of context, noting that in other parts of the interview, Olmert several times refused to confirm that Israel has nuclear weapons.

One newspaper wondered whether the list of countries raised the possibility the reference to "nuclear weapons" could apply to Iran, not the list including Israel _ but that grammatical nuance was lost on the rest of the Israeli media and political world.