Press TV - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, in an apparent stumble, called the occupying entity a �nuclear power� before correcting himself with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile.

Netanyahu made the terrible blunder in a cabinet meeting on Sunday, while reading Hebrew notes on a deal with Greece and Cyprus on a subsea gas pipeline.

"The significance of this project is that we are turning Israel into a nuclear power," he said, before swiftly correcting himself to say "energy power."

The Israeli premier then paused for a while, acknowledging his mistake with a smile, and then continued with his comments.

The apparent tongue slip from Netanyahu quickly proliferated on Israeli social media.

Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but its policy is to neither confirm nor deny having atomic arms.

Jimmy Carter, a former president of the United States, and various high-profile newspaper and media reports have, however, verified the regime�s ownership of the non-conventional arms. Estimates show that the regime is currently in possession of 200 to 400 atomic warheads.

The regime is also believed to possess the capability to deliver its nuclear warheads in a number of methods, including by aircraft, on submarine-launched cruise missiles, and the Jericho series of intermediate to intercontinental range ballistic missiles.

The United States, Israel�s most dedicated and biggest ally, has invariably cast its veto against the United Nations� measures seeking to hold the regime to account for its various grave actions, including its refusal to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.