German Nobel literature laureate Guenter Grass has labelled Israel a threat to "already fragile world peace" in a poem that has drawn sharp rebukes at home and from Israel.

In the poem titled What must be said, published in German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Italy's La Repubblica among others, Grass criticised what he described as Western hypocrisy over Israel's own suspected nuclear program amid speculation it might engage in military action against Iran to stop it building an atomic bomb.

The 84-year-old Grass said he had been prompted to put pen to paper by Berlin's recent decision to sell Israel a submarine able to "send all-destroying warheads where the existence of a single nuclear bomb is unproven."

"The nuclear power Israel is endangering the already fragile world peace," he wrote. His poem specifically criticised Israel's "claim to the right of a first strike" against Iran.

Grass also called for "unhindered and permanent control of Israel's nuclear capability and Iran's atomic facilities through an international body."

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