[jbooth]

It's not just Israel, we didn't make Israel a nuclear power (they built the nukes in the 60s using a french reactor design IIRC), and if the Saudis had nukes and Israel didn't, then their positions on a nuclear free middle east would be reversed.

[cma]

What's not just Israel? I mentioned Egypt. The two make up the bulk of the foreign aid (or at least did before the Arab Spring; I haven't looked at it since then).

We don't know the details of Israel's nukes, but you are right that the Washington consensus is they developed them themselves.

The only thing preventing a nuclear-free Middle East is our veto in the UN.