WHY ISRAEL PULLED BACK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000500110037-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 5, 2000
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: March 29, 1974
• Content Type: NSPR

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Approved For Release 2001/08/01 : CIA-14[YPU,-60Wry4'P2000S5OATINTL
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Analysts for months have had not V t perfected a
been baffled as to why the means of ~c p i]'ating Ura1)i-
Israelis, ..who since 19 ~, h,ci urn isotope: , by the laser
never returned a sgaa c method. I,;st month, the
foot of captured Arab 15 `r:rl, AEC asked Congress to up
in January suddenly agreed the approuriation for re-
to abandon their Sucz Ca::al search into laser enricl]-
defense line and pull back ment from ':1 million to 59
into Sinai. million, in t hope of devel-
The move was such a oping the technique by 1975.
sharp reversal of a policy So far as is known, the
that had stood for a quarter world's other nuclear pow-
f
o
a century that many oh-
servers were inclined to La-
lieve that Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger roust
given Israel a secret iron-
clad commitment to the ef-
fect that the United States
would conic to her aid if the
peace broke down and she
found herself hard-pressed
by the Arabs.
Kissinger, both in private
and in public, emphatically
and categorically has main-
tained that the United
States entered into no se-
cret understanding with
Israel. But doubts persist-
ed.
It now appears likely,
however, that Israel's Irod-
eration may have been
grounded at least partially
on a new self-confidence
based on an Israeli scientif-
ic breakthrough of awesome
dimensions: The Israelis
are reported to have rer-
fected a simple, inexpensive
means of producing the
enriched uranium neces-
sary for nuclear weapons.
The Israeli technique,
developed by Isaiah Nchun-
zahl, a scientist attached to
the Israeli defense ministry,
and Menahen] Levin, a
physicist at Tel Aviv Uni-
versity, involves passing
uranium vapor through two
ers - the Soviet Union,
Communist China, Britain
and France - have not yet
developed the laser tech-
nique. Thus the Israelis
appear to have stolen a
march of at least a year,
perhaps more, on the other
nuclear lowers.
Within months of the cre-
ation of the state in 1948,
Israel began nuclear re-
search at Nahal Sorek on
the coast south of Tel Aviv.
In the 1950s, the Israelis
secretly began work on a
major reactor,., Dirnona, 20
Irides southeast of 13ecrshc-
ha in the Negev desert.
lasers that selectively ex- Ostensibly, these facili-
cite the uranium atoms, 'tics were for research into
then bombarding them with the peaceful aplilicatons of
a powerful carbon dioxide atomic power. In 1960, how-
laser that electrifies these ever, CIA Director Allen
atoms, which then can be Dulles proclaimed publicly
collected on an oppositely that Israel had "misled"
charged electrode. the United States about its
As receraly as January, . nuclear activities.
John 0. Erlev;ine, deputy In the 1969s, Israel, at
general manager of ille Nnhal Sorek aand later at the
Atomic Nnergv Commis- Dassault plant in France,
sion, was publicly on record concentrated on the cl vel-
as saying the U, it~,d Status opulent of a delivery sys-
CIL
ten]. By late evil, the Israe-
lis had developed the Jeri-
cho rocket, capable of
carrying a 1,530-pound pay-
load 300 miles. Asked in 1972
if the Jericho made sense
for delivering a convention-
al, non-nuclear explosive, a
top American security ex-
pert told this reporter:
"No."
The Israelis quickly de-
veloped the cpacity to pro-
duce about five of the two-
'
stage, solid-fuel Jericho
missiles per month, at an
estimated cost of 51.5 mil-
lion each. Th\e problem then
became the slowness of
Dimona to produce by con-
ventional means the en-
riched uranium for the
warheads: The Israelis
could turn out only about
one nuclear warhead per
year.
The laser method, once it
is fully developed and per-
fected, may eliminate of at
least ease this production
bottleneck.
On nuclear matters, the
Israelis always have fol-
lowed a policy of "deterr-
ence through uncertainty."
This means that they have
neither denied nor admitted
that they have a military
nuclear capacity, confining
themselves to the purposely
ambiguous comment that
they will never he the first
to use nuclear weapons in
the Middle East. But, signi.f-
icantly, Israel never has
signed the Nuclear Nonpro-
lif oration Treaty of 1969.
In this space just two
years ago, on March 22,
1972, this observer predict-
ed that "within four years
at most" Israel woukd be-
come the world's sixth nu-
clear power.
In view of the reported
development of the laser
technique by Nebenzehl and
Levin, that estimate ap-
pears to have been ab.aut on
the button. And that may
help to explain why Israel
felt strong enough to pull
back from Suez in January
wltl;ollt anV Secret conlillit-
rricnt Iroi]] Kissinger.
Approved For Release 2001/08/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901 R000500110037-4