"It is our duty to keep the option to produce energy through other ways," Ben Eliezer said in a speech at an annual conference on Israel's national security in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

"Given the conditions that have surrounded Israel from the day it was created and its unique geo-political situation, I believe it is not enough to rely on energy production through conventional means," he said.

A senior official in the ministry told AFP that Ben Eliezer was referring to "the need to develop nuclear energy technology for civilian purposes."

Although Israel is considered to be the region's only nuclear power, it refuses to say whether it does or does not have nuclear technology or weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert caused an international uproar last month when he placed his country on a list of states possessing nuclear weapons during an interview with German television.

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