Among the guests who traveled to Israel last week to take part in a closed-door Tel Aviv conference on the subject of disarming the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction, I met Wilbert van der Zeijden from the Dutch organization IKV Pax Christi, one of the event’s sponsors. Van der Zeijden is the co-author of a newly issued comprehensive report on funding sources for the production of nuclear weapons.

The Israeli reader will be surprised to learn that no fewer than $2 billion is invested annually in Israel in the nuclear industry. Among other things, the document reports that the Israeli Hapoalim Bank participated in a syndicate of 13 banks who secured credit for the American company Alliant Techsystems, which produces missiles for Britain's nuclear arsenal.

“Israelis might also be interested in knowing that one of the companies that we have identified, which is involved in nuclear production, is the German company ThyssenKrupp. It is involved in the production of the Israeli dolphin submarines, that according to foreign sources are capable of launching nuclear weapons,” Van der Zeijden told Al-Monitor. He then adds with a smile, “Don’t forget to mention that this, too, is according to foreign sources, so that you don’t get into trouble, God forbid.”

The Dutch organization that published the data served as an adviser to the Dutch government on its NATO policy in Europe and on the global level. The report lists no fewer than 298 banks, pension funds and insurance companies that invest in 27 companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons, their maintenance or upgrading.