Israel's Nuclear Option: Behind the Scenes Diplomacy Between Dimona & Washington

By Zakai Shalom

Book Overview

In the early 1950s, Israel secretly launched a project designed to achieve a nuclear option. Initially supported by France, this daring project stood to engineer a dramatic change in Israel's strategic position vis-a-vis its neighboring Arab states and the wider international community. A nuclear program was driven by the firm conviction of David Ben-Gurion that Israel's existence could be guaranteed only with the aid of such a deterrent. The ensuing nuclear defense strategy was upheld by successive Israeli governments. Adamantly opposed to America's request to allow external supervision of its nuclear activity, Israel labored to avert a potentially disastrous rift with its one superpower ally. Israel's Nuclear Option recounts the dialogue and related diplomatic activity that took place during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and the Ben-Gurion and Eshkol premierships. The intense and often difficult discussions, which pitted Israel's security concerns against the United States' determined goal to stem nuclear proliferation, eventually produced a set of formal and informal strategic understandings regarding Israel's nuclear deterrence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1845190149
• ISBN13: 9781845190149
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.9"