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June 11, 1964

Cable from the US Embassy in France to the Department of State, 'Franco-Israeli Nuclear Relations'

This document was made possible with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY)

Peter Ramsbotham, chief of the chancery at the British Embassy in France, passed along information to the US Embassy about his meeting with George Soutou, a senior official at the French Foreign Ministry. While the French by then did not want Israel to acquire nuclear weapons, they believed that the Israelis were seeking them.



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June 11, 1964

Letter from Peter Ramsbotham, British Embassy in Paris, to William 'Willie' Morris, Foreign Office

This letter describes a meeting between Peter Ramsbotham, chief of the chancery at the British Embassy in France, and George Soutou, a senior official at the French Foreign Ministry. Soutou acknowledged that the French believed that the Israelis were attempting to "put themselves in a position to make a nuclear bomb if they wanted to." The French-Israeli agreement did not include a condition that prevented the use of non-French uranium for Dimona, and Ramsbotham wondered whether the French should be told about the Argentine-Israeli secret deal. Minutes of a conversation with Arkell of the Defense Intelligence Staff are attached.

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Letter from Arthur R. H. Kellas, British Embassy in Tel Aviv, to Alan C. Goodison, Eastern Department of the Foreign Office

In response to Alan Goodison's April 29 letter, which referred to evidence for an Israeli plutonium separation facility, Arthur Kellas, counselor to the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, states that the British Embassy had “not seen such evidence [for a separation facility] and should be grateful to know what it is."

Document Information

Source

National Archives of the United States (NARA), Group 59, Department of State Records Subject-Numeric File, 1964-1966 Inco-Uranium. Originally published in Avner Cohen and William Burr, eds., National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book #432 (June 25, 2013).

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Original Uploaded Date

2013-06-13

Type

Cable

Language

Record ID

117056

Original Classification

Secret

Donors

Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY)