U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended Israel’s nuclear program on Saturday, saying the Jewish state did not seek to destroy its neighbors or support terrorism, unlike Iran.

Asked at the Manama Dialogue conference whether he thought Israel’s nuclear program posed a threat to the region, Gates replied: “No, I do not.”

The statement was greeted by laughter from a room filled with government officials from Middle Eastern countries.

Israel is widely assumed to have the region’s only atomic arsenal, but refuses to confirm or deny it. Washington has long avoided pressing Israel to go public with its capabilities.