Israel and the Bomb - Principal Players

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Israel and the Bomb

Principal Players

Allon, Yigal (1918-80). Israeli general and statesman; Palmach's commander-in-chief (1945-48); commander of the southern front during the War of Independence (1948-49); Achdut Ha'Avodah leader and member of Knesset; minister of labor (1961-68); deputy prime minister (1968); minister of education (1969-74); foreign minister (1974-77); leader of the "conventionalist" school that advocated reliance on conventional deterrence.

Amer, Abdul Hakim (1919-67). Egyptian general; member of the Free Officers' group that toppled King Farouk in 1952; chief of Egypt's armed forces and vice president during the 1967 war; after the war was accused of conspiring against Nasser, was arrested, and committed suicide.

Angleton, James Jesus (1917-87). Long-time CIA operative; director of CIA counterespionage (1954-74); handled the CIA Israel account; was forced to resign from the CIA after questions were raised concerning his search for a Soviet "mole" inside the agency.

Badeau, John S. (1903-). U.S. ambassador to Egypt (1961-64).

Ball, George W. (1909-94). Undersecretary of state during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations (1961-68); early opponent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam; developed a name as a critic of Israel.

Barbour, Walworth (1908-82). U.S. ambassador to Israel (1961-73).

Ben Gurion, David (1886-1973). Considered the founding- father of the state of Israel; founder of the Histadrut Labor Federation (Igloo); MAPAI preeminent leader; chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive (1935-48); Israel's first prime minister and minister of defense (1948-53,1955-63); in 1965 left MAPAI and founded the RAFI party; also the founding father of Israel's nuclear program.

Bergmann, Ernst David (1903-75). German born; organic chemist; Chaim Weizmann protege and scientific director of the Sieff Institute and subsequently the Weizmann Institute of Science(1934-51); member and head of the scientific department of the Haganah and IDF, first chair of the IAEC (1952-66); head of research in the Ministry of Defense (1950-66); recognized as the scientific inspiration for Israel's nuclear program.

Bourges-Maunoury, Maurice (1914-93). French minister of defense under the Fourth Republic (1956-57); major supporter of the French-lsraeli nuclear cooperation.

Bundy, McGeorge (1919-96). National security adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-66).

Clifford, Clark M. (1906-98). Lawyer, government official, special assistant to President Harry S. Truman (1946-50); secretary of defense (1968-69).

Couve de Murville, Maurice (1907- ). French prime minister (1968-69) and foreign minister (1959-68) under President Charles de Gaulle.

Croach, Jesse W. (1918- ). Scientist employed by DuPont at the Savannah River Laboratory; member of the first U.S. inspection team at Dimona.

Culler, Floyd L. (1923- ). Chemical engineer; expert on chemical reprocessing of nuclear fuels; assistant, associate, and acting director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; visited Dimona four times as a member and leader of the American inspection team (1965-68).

Dassault, Marcel (1892-1986). French industrialist; founder of Marcel Dassault Aviation Industries, which was Israel's primary supplier of aviation equipment int he 1950s and 1960s.

Dayan, Moshe (1915-81). Israeli general and statesman; the fourth IDF chief of staff (1953-58); minister of agriculture (1959-64); minister of defense (1967-74); foreign minister (1977-79). Credited with developing the IDF aggressive, mobile war-fighting doctrine; supporter of the nuclear program.

De Gaulle, Charles (1890-1970). French general; leader of the anti-Nazi Free France forces; led the liberation army into Paris in 1944; prime minister (1946-48); founder of the Fifth Republic (1958) and president of France (1958-69).

De Shalit, Amos (1926-69). Prominent Israeli scientist (nuclear physicist); among the HEMED physicists who were sent in 1949 to study nuclear physics overseas; created (1954) and headed (1954-64) the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Weizmann Institute; scientific director of the Weizmann Institute; served as the official escort to most of the American AEC teams to Dimona.

Dinstein, Zvi (1925- ). Palestinian-born; Ph.D. (Law); an economist; Eshkol's senior assistant at the Ministry of Defense (1965-66); after the 1966 election became Knesset member and deputy minister of defense (1966-67).

Dostrovsky, Israel (1918- ). Prominent Israeli scientist (nuclear chemist); joined the Weizmann Institute in 1948 and founded the Department of Isotope Research; commander of HEMED Gimmel (1948-51); director of research at the LAEC (1953-57); director-general of the IAEC under Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir (1965-71); vice president and later president of the Weizmann Institute (1971-75).

Dulles,John Foster (1888-1959). Secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-59).

Eban, Abba (1915- ). South-African-born; Israeli ambassador to the United States and the United Nations (1950-59); minister of education (1959-63); deputy prime minister (1963-66); foreign minister (1966-74).

Eisenhower, Dwight D. (1890-1969). Supreme Allied commander during the Second World War; thirty-fourth president of the United States (1953-61).

Eshkol, Levi (1895-1969). Russian-born; among the founders of kibbutz Degania; MAPAI leader; minister of finance (195a-63); third prime minister of Israel (1963-69); minister of defense (1963-67). The first to use publicly the formula "Israel will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East" (1964).

Feinberg, Abraham (Abe) (1908- ). American Jewish leader; fund-raiser for the Democratic Party in the 19605.

Feldman, Myer (Mike). Deputy counsel in the White House under Presidents John E Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-64); counsel under Johnson (1964-65).

Finney, John W. (1923- ). New York Times reporter in the 1960s who followed the story of Dimona.

Freier, Shalheveth (1920-94). German-born; Israel's science attache in Paris (1956-60); IAEC director-general under Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin (1971-76).

Gaillard, Felix (1919-70). Last prime minister of the French Fourth Republic (1957-58). Galili, Israel (1911-86). Russian-born; chief of staff of the Haganah (1947-48); lander of Achdut Ha'Avodah; senior cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, and Yitzhak Rabin (1965-77); supporter of the "conventionalist" school, which advocated reliance on conventional deterrence.

Gazit, Mordechai (1922- ). Israeli diplomat; minister at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. (1960-65); director-general of the prime minister's office under Golda Meir and ambassador to France.

Gilpatric, Roswell (1906- ). Deputy secretary of defense in the Kennedy administration; chairman of the committee that looked at American nonproliferation policies in 1964.

Goldschmidt, Bertrand Leopold (1912- ). French physical chemist; participated in the French contingent to the Manhattan Project; among the major contributors to the French CEA as head of the Chemistry Division (1946-59) and head of External Relations and Planning.

Haber-Schaim, Uri (1926- ). German-born, came to Israel as a child; physicist and educator; among the HEMED physicists who were sent overseas in 1949 to study nuclear physics; left Israel in 1953; taught physics in the United States; devoted his professional life to science education.

Harel, Isser (1912- ). Latvian-born; second head of the Mossad (1952-63); led the campaign against the German scientists in Egypt (1961-63).

Harman, Avraham (Abe) (1914- ). British-born; diplomat, Israeli ambassador to the United States (1960-67) and subsequently president of the Hebrew University.

Harriman, Averell W. (1891-1986). U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union; governor of New York (1955-59); undersecretary of state in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Heikal, Mohammed Hassanein (1923- ). Egyptian journalist; editor of Al Ahram (1957-70); confidant of President Gamal Abdul Nasser; minister of national guidance (1970).

Helms, Richard (1913- ). Among the founders of the CIA; spent most of his career in covert operations, deputy director (1965-66) and director of the CIA (1966-73).

Hermoni, Avraham (1926- ). Palestinian-born; chemist; senior official in RAFAEL.

Herter, Christian A. (1895-1966). U.S. undersecretary of state (1957-59); secretary of state (1959-61).

Jones, Lewis G. Assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1959-61).

Johnson, Lyndon B. (1908-73). U.S. vice president under John F. Kennedy (1961-63); thirty-sixth president of the United States (1963-69).

Katzir-Katachalsky, Aharon (1913-72). Polish-born, came to Israel as a child, Israeli-trained; among HEMED founders; pioneer in polymer research; professor at the Weizmann Institute; oversaw defense research at RAFAEL and other agencies; died in a terrorist attack at Ben Gurion airport.

Katzir-Katachalsky, Ephraim (1916- ). Ukrainian-born, came to Israel as a child, Israeli-trained; among HEMED founders; pioneer in biophysics research; professor at the Weizmann Institute; founded the Department of Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University; fourth president of Israel (1973-78); in 1966 was directly involved in the reorganization of defense research.

Kennedy, John F. (1917-63). U.S. congressman (1946-50) and senator (1950-61) from Massachusetts; thirty-fifth president of the United States (1961-63).

Kintner, Edwin (1920- ). Member and team leader of the AEC visits to Dimona (1968-69).

Kissinger, Henry A. (1923- ). National security adviser (1969-74);secretary of state (1973-77) in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Kollek, Teddy (1911- ). Hungarian-born; Haganah operative in the United States (1947-52); director-general of the prime minister's office under David Ben Gurion (1954-63); mayor of Jerusalem (1965-96).

Komer, Robert W. (1922- ). Staff member at the National Security Council in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations (1961-65); deputy and acting national security adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson (1965-66).

Lavon, Pinhas (1904-76). Polish-born; MAPAI leader; minister of defense (1953-55); chairman of the Histadrut (195501); known for his role in the Lavon Affair. Leibovitz, Yeshayahu (1903-94). Latvian-born; scientist, philosopher, and social critic; professor at the Hebrew University; among the first to voice opposition to the Dimona project.

Lie, Haakon (1905- ). Secretary-general of Norway's Labor Party (Arbeiderpartiet, with a social-democratic orientation) in the 1950s and 1960s; a friend of Israel; instrumental in promoting the Norwegian-Israeli heavy-water deal.

Lior, Israel (1921-81). Polish-born; brigadier general, IDF; military assistant to Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir (1966-74).

Lipkin, Harry J. (Zvi) (1921- ). American-born, immigrated to Israel in 1950; nuclear physicist; was recruited in 1952 to work for the IAEC; trained in reactor physics in Saclay, France (1953-54); consultant to the IAEC (1956-58); involved in the early discussions about Dimona; professor at the Weizmann Institute (1954- ).

Livneh, Eliezer. Writer, editor, commentator; leading MAPAI member (1940s); Knesset member (1950s); expelled from MAPAI (1956); founder of the Committee for the Denuclearization of the Middle East (1962-66); among the founders of the Greater Israel movement (1967).

Mardor, Munya M. (1913-84). Haganah operative; director of EMET (1952-58); founding director of RAFAEL (1958-70).

McCloy, John J. (1895-1989). Lawyer and diplomat; assistant secretary of war (1942-45); president of the World Bank (1946-49); military governor and high commissioner for Germany (1949-52); instrumental in the creation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) (1961); sent to Egypt twice to discuss arms control with Nasser (1963-64).

McCone, John A. (1902-91). Businessman, government official; founded the Bechtel-McCone construction company (1937); assistant secretary of defense (1948-50); undersecretary of the air force (1950-53); chairman of the AEC (1958-60); director of the CIA (1961-65).

McNamara, Robert S. (1916- ). Secretary of defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-67); president of the World Bank (1968-81).

Meir, Golda (1898-1978). Russian-born, American-educated; MAPAI leader, minister of labor (1949-56); foreign minister (1956-65); MAPAI secretary general (1965-68); fourth prime minister of Israel (1969-74).

Mollet, Guy (1905-75). Socialist prime minister of France under the Fourth Republic (1956-57).

Nasser, Gamal Abdul (1918-70). Leader in the Free Officers movement that toppled King Farouk (22 July 1952); president of Egypt (1954-70); among the organizers of the Bandung Conference (18-25 April 1955), which created the nonaligned movement.

Ne'eman, Yuval (1925- ). Palestinian-born; distinguished theoretical physicist; colonel, IDF (1948-60); Ph.D. in theoretical physics (1962); director of Nachal Soreq (1961-63); founder of the Department of Physics at Tel Aviv University; president of Tel Aviv University (1971-75); member and acting chairman of IAEC (1966-92); minister of science (1982-84,1988-92); discovered classification of elementary partides (1961) and conceived quarks as constituents of protons, neutrons, and so on (1962).

Nixon, Richard M. (1913-94). U.S. congressman (1946-50) and senator (1951-53) from California; U.S. vice president (1953-61); thirty-seventh president of the United States (1969-74).

Pelah, Israel (1923-82). Polish-born, came to Israel as a child; educated in Israel and Holland; nuclear physicist (experimental); was in the first group of Israelis sent overseas in 1949 to study nuclear physics; built the Nachal Soreq reactor; appointed direc- tor of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center (1971).

Peres, Shimon (1923- ). Polish-born, came to Israel as a child; Ben Gurion's protege; director-general of the Ministry of Defense (1953-59); depauty minister of defense and MAPAI Knesset member (1959-65); RAFI secretary general (1965-69); minister of communication (1969-74); minister of defense (1974-77,1995-96); minister of finance (1986-88); foreign minister (1988-90;1992-95); prime minister (1984-86; 1995-96); played a central role in the Israeli nuclear project during its first decade (1955-65).

Perrin, Francis. French nuclear physicist; professor of nuclear physics at the University of Paris (1946-51); high commissioner of the French Atomic Energy Commission (1951-70)

Pineau, Christian (1904- ). French minister of foreign affairs (1956-58).

Pleat, George B. (1922- ). Chemist and industrial engineer; deputy director AEC Division of Intelligence (1960-65); assistant director for reactor products, AEC; member and team leader in three AEC visits to Dimona (1967-69).

Pratt, Emanuel (Manes) (1911- ). Polish-born; engineer; colonel, IDF; headed IDF Engineering Corps (1948) and the Ordnance Corps (1951); military attache in Burma (1955-57); in charge of building the Dimona reactor (1958-66).

Rabin, Yitzhak (1922-95). Palestinian-born; lieutenant general, IDF; seventh chief-of-staff (1964-68); ambassador to the United States (1968-72); prime minister (1974-77; 1992-95); minister of defense (1984-90, 1992-95).

Racah, Giulio (Yoel) (1909-65). Italian-born; founder of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Hebrew University and its first professor in that subject; member of the IAEC (1952-58).

Randers, Gunnar (1914-92). Norwegian physicist; joined the Norwegian military forces in exile in the United Kingdom, working mostly on radar research; later involved in the Alsos operation; after the war founded and directed the Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy Research; known worldwide as a champion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Ratner, Jenka (Yevgeni) (1909-77). Engineer; weapons designer; among the founders of HEMED, EMET, and RAFAEL; the first head of the Israeli nuclear project.

Reid, Ogden R. (1925- ). U.S. ambassador to Israel (1959-61).

Richardson, Elliot L. (1920- ). Lawyer and government offficial; undersecretary of state (1969-70); secretary of health, education, and welfare (1970-73); secretary of defense (1973); attorney general (1973); secretary of commerce (1976-77).

Rogers, William R. (1913- ). Secretary of state in the Nixon administration (1969-73)

Rostow, Walt W. (1916- ). Economist; deputy national security adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-66); national security adviser to President Johnson (1966-69).

Rusk, Dean (1909-94). Secretary of state under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-69).

Sambursky, Shmuel (1900-90). German-born; the Hebrew University's first physics lecturer; later chairman of the scientific council; among the founding members of the IAEC (1952 - 58).

Sapir, Pinhas (1909-1975). Polish-born; MAPAI leader; minister of trade and industry (1955-63); minister of finance (1963-68,1969-74); the only cabinet minister to oppose the Dimona project.

Saunders, Harold (Hal) (1930-). National Security Council staffmember for the Middle East under Presidents Lyndon B. Iohnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald Ford (1968-75).

Seaborg, Glenn T. (1912- ). Nuclear chemist and a Noble Laureate (1951); chairman of the AEC under Presidents John E Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon (1961-71).

Sharett, Moshe (1894-1965). Russian-born; MAPAI leader; Israel's first foreign minister (1948-56) and second prime minister (1953-55).

Sisco, Joseph (1919- ). Assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs (1969-74).

Smith, Hedrick (1933-). Journalist, author, commentator, and documentary creator. A veteran New York Times correspondent who reported from Saigon, Paris, Cairo, Moscow, and Washington. Smith broke the story"U.S. Assumes Israelis Have A-Bomb or Its Parts" on 18 July 1970.

Soustelle, Jacques (1912-90). Anthropologist specializing in the Aztec and Mayan cultures; French politician; member or the Free France forces during the Second World War; governor-general of Algeria (1955-56); minister of information (1958); minister of nuclear energy (1959-60); broke with de Gaulle over the issue of Algerian independence.

Staebler, Ulysses M. (1920-?) Senior scientist, AEC.: participated in the first four American visits to Dimona (1961-65).

Strauss, Lewis (1896-1974). Investment banker; architect of American nuclear policies in the 1950s; commissioner and chairman of the AEC (1948-50,1953-58).

Symington, Stuart (1901-88). U.S. senator from Missouri (1952-75); dealt extensively with nuclear proliferation.

Talbot, Phillips. (1915- ). Assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs under President John F. Kennedy.

Talmi, Igal (1925- ). Palestinian-born; in the first group of Israelis who went overseas in 1949 to study physics; one of the founders of the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Weizmann Institute; official escort of one of the American visits to Dimona (1965).

Teller, Edward (1900 ). Hungarian-born; theoretical physicist, known as the father of the Hydrogen Bomb; founder of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); associate director and director of LLNL (1954-75).

Tolkovsky, Dan (1921- ). Palestinian-born; major general, IDF; commander of the Israeli Air Force (1955-58); since 1958 served in various posts related to the Israeli nuclear project; member of the IAEC.

U Thant (1909-74). Burmese diplomat; secretary-general of the United Nations (1962-71).

Warnke, Paul C. (1920-). Lawyer and government official; assistant secretary of defense for international security (1967-69); ACDA director (1977-78).

Webber, Robert T. (1921- ). Science attache in the American Embassy in Tel Aviv in the early to mid-1960s.

Weisgal, Meyer (1894-1977). Chaim Weizmann's aide; chairman of the Executive Committee of the Weizmann Institute (1949-66); president of the Weizmann Institute (1966-70); chancellor of the Weizmann Institute (1976-77).

Weizman, Ezer (1924- ). Palestinian-born; major general, IDF; commander of the Israeli Air Force (1958-65); chief of operations (1965-70); minister of defense (1977-80); seventh President of Israel (1993-).

Weizmann, Chaim (1874-1952). Russian-born; chemist; prominent Zionist leader; founder of the Daniel Sieff later renamed Weizmann) Institute (1934); first president of Israel (1948-52).

Yekutieli, Gideon (1926- ). Palestinian-born; physicist; in the first group of Israelis who were sent overseas in 1949 to study physics; one of the founders of the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Weizmann Institute.

Zur, Zvi (1923- ). Russia-born; lieutenant general in the IDF; sixth chief-of-staff of the IDF (1961-63); special assistant to the minister of defense (1967-74); served in various posts related to nuclear matters; member of the IAEC.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/players.htm