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Israeli Nuclear History

Photograph of the Port of Jaffa in Israel.

Middle East

Israel

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South America

Argentina

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Ben-Gurion, David

1886- 1973

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Harman, Avraham

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Photograph of John F. Kennedy in 1963

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)

1917- 1963

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United States. Department of State

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Photograph of Dean Rusk

Rusk, Dean

1909- 1994

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United States. Embassy (Argentina)

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Western Europe

France

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North America

United States

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

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Central Africa

Gabon

Indian Nuclear History

South African Nuclear History

Nuclear Proliferation

Pakistani Nuclear History

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April 11, 1969	National Security Study Memorandum [NSSM] No. 40, Memorandum from Henry Kissinger to Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Director of Central Intelligence, 'Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program' Kissinger initiated a formal bureaucratic process to address how the U.S. government should respond to the emergence of a nuclear Israel, a review process managed by Kissinger’s NSC staff, known as NSSM 40. Through the NSSM Henry Kissinger tasked the DCI, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to prepare a report for the President that included the latest intelligence findings on the Israeli nuclear program and policy options with recommendations that the President could use in making decisions.
February 27, 1969	Memorandum from Ralph Earle, Office of International Security Affairs to Secretary of Defense Laird, 'Stopping the Introduction of Nuclear Weapons Into the Middle East' Ralph Earle, a senior official at the Pentagon’s Office of International Security Affairs [DOD/ISA] who had worked closely with Warnke, sent Laird a memorandum, requesting a meeting with Rogers, Kissinger, and Helms on the Israeli nuclear problem. The paper further restated the recommendation to keep the issue out of the National Security Council process.
February 17, 1969	Telephone Conversation Transcript, Henry Kissinger and William P. Rogers The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty for ratification and its chairman, J. William Fulbright (D-Ark), wanted to know where Israel stood on the Treaty. Believing that the issue should be handled at the White House level, Rogers proposed a meeting with Kissinger, Laird, and CIA director Richard Helms. Agreeing to schedule a meeting, Kissinger acknowledged that the issue was also “political.”
February 15, 1969	Memorandum from Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs [ISA] Paul Warnke to Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, 'Stopping the Introduction of Nuclear Weapons Into the Middle East' Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Warnke wrote this memo to the Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird to alert him to the new reality that Israel may already possess nuclear weapons or was very close to that point. Warnke proposed that Laird “consider another serious, concerted, and sustained effort to push Israel to halt its work on strategic missiles and nuclear weapons.”
May 19, 1979	Letter from Israeli PM Menachem Begin to British PM Margaret Thatcher on Pakistan’s Nuclear Program Letter from Begin forwarding a memorandum to Thatcher on activities of the Pakistani government to build a nuclear weapon.
December 8, 1964	Letter from R. C. Treweeks, Defense Intelligence Staff, to Alan C. Goodison, Eastern Department of the Foreign Office In his letter to Goodison, Treweeks declares that the Defense Intelligence Staff agreed with J. Koop's conclusion that Dimona was capable of pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Goodison's previous letter to Treweeks is attached.
June 22, 1964	Letter from R. J. T. McLaren, Eastern Department of the Foreign Office, to A. M. Warburton, British Embassy Bonn. McLaren wonders why the West Germans want safeguard-free uranium from the Argentine government, noting that it could be re-exported to Israel. He also confirms that information about the Argentine-Israeli deal had been passed to the Americans.
November 11, 1966	Airgram A-49 from the US Embassy in Gabon to the Department of State, 'Reported Diversion of Gabonese Uranium to Israel' The Embassy reported the Gabonese government's assertation that France was the sole procurer of Gabonese uranium; however, it noted that this statement did not preclude a possible diversion to Israel.
November 10, 1965	Cable 157 from the US Embassy in Gabon to the Department of State During a visit to the Nounona uranium mines, Ambassador Bane learned that all processed ore went to France for metal extraction by the Atomic Energy Agency.
August 11, 1965	Cable 786 from the US Embassy in France to the Department of State The US Embassy in France noted that Gabon produced about 440 tons of uranium metal annually, and any diversions would occur under French, rather than Gabonese, authority.