(NaturalNews) It was an unprecedented decision, and one that had not been taken by U.S. presidents since the 1960s.

Before Barack Obama, the world could only speculate that Israel was a nuclear power. Now, thanks to this president, the world knows Israel is a nuclear power - and that could lead to a nuclear arms race in the most volatile part of the globe.

In late March, Israel National News reported that the Defense Department "quietly" declassified a Top Secret 1987 report that provided great detail about the Jewish state's nuclear weapons program. In the report, analysts described Israel's nuclear weapons laboratories as being on par with those in the United States, adding that the Israeli government began its atomic program in the 1960s and had quickly produced bombs that were similar to early U.S. weapons.

Furthermore, the INN noted that the release of the report violated "the silent agreement" to keep Israel's nuclear weapons program secret, "for the first time ever."

Also, the Israeli news site further noted that released report did not come without some revision; that is, for instance, portions of the report detailing atomic weapons work by other U.S. allies in Europe were redacted, meaning the report was released specifically to highlight Israel's nuclear programs.

Not a true FOIA release

As reported by INN:

Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document.

The move to declassify portions of the report, titled, "Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations," began in 2011, ostensibly in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by an American journalist, Grant Smith. Initially, the Pentagon demurred, but Grant sued, leading a federal district judge to order the document's release.

So, the administration really had no choice - right? Hardly.

First of all, the FOIA law contains provisions that specifically shield classified materials from release; in other words, if the Pentagon had really wanted to keep the report Top Secret, the FOIA law permits that, and there is little any federal judge can do to force the release of such documents. Indeed, there are several exemptions to the FOIA law, the primary exemption being that the government can refuse to release any information deemed crucial to national security.

There are also three "exclusions" to FOIA requests, the pertinent one in this case being:

The third exclusion is limited to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and protects the existence of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence, or international terrorism records when the existence of such records is classified.

So, the notion that the Pentagon had no choice in this matter is complete nonsense.

Furthermore, the Pentagon would never - ever - voluntarily release this kind of report, especially with its key redactions. So, the report's release was a) unauthorized, i.e. "leaked," which is unlikely in this case; or b) ordered by the Commander-in-Chief.

"Nothing he says rings true"

Consider also that the timing of the report's release came as the White House was locked in a war of words with conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was planning to travel to Washington, D.C., to address a joint session of Congress. Netanyahu had been invited by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to make a case against congressional approval of any nuclear deal with Iran that would permit the Islamic republic to continue weapons development; the speech was opposed by President Obama.

Why would a U.S. president break the code of silence and release a report of this magnitude, knowing that it would harm Israeli national security and perhaps spark a nuclear arms race in the region?

Obama, in announcing the "framework" of a nuclear deal with Iran April 2, said that there "is no daylight" between the U.S. commitment to Israeli security. He also said that the framework "provides no path" to a nuclear weapon for Iran. For its part, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said otherwise, claiming the White House is "lying" about provisions of the deal.

Like so many other things Obama has said, none of what he says rings true, especially given the release of this highly classified report.

Sources:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193175#.VR65ILq4ky5

http://www.reuters.com

http://www.usnews.com

http://freebeacon.com