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Overview
Until now, there has been no detailed account of Israel's nuclear history. Previous treatments of the subject relied heavily on rumors, leaks, and journalistic speculations. But with Israel and the Bomb, Avner Cohen has forged an interpretive political history that draws on thousands of American and Israeli government documents -- most of them recently declassified and never before cited -- and more than one hundred interviews with key individuals who played important roles in this story. Cohen reveals that Israel crossed the nuclear weapons threshold on the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War, yet it remains ambiguous about its nuclear capability to this day. What made this posture of "opacity" possible, and how did it evolve?
Cohen focuses on a two-decade period from about 1950 until 1970, during which David Ben-Gurion's vision of making Israel a nuclear-weapon state was realized. He weaves together the story of the formative years of Israel's nuclear program, from the founding of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission in 1952, to the alliance with France that gave Israel the sophisticated technology it needed, to the failure of American intelligence to identify the Dimona Project for what it was, to the negotiations between President Nixon and Prime Minister Meir that led to the current policy of secrecy. Cohen also analyzes the complex reasons Israel concealed its nuclear program -- from concerns over Arab reaction and the negative effect of the debate at home to consideration of America's commitment to nonproliferation.
Israel and the Bomb highlights the key questions and the many potent issues surrounding Israel's nuclear history. This book will be a critical resource for students of nuclear proliferation, Middle East politics, Israeli history, and American-Israeli relations, as well as a revelation for general readers.
Columbia University Press
A Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title of the Year
Editorials
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs
Cohen has produced another rich historical narrative that functions as a readily accessible page-turner.
New York Times Book Review -
A scholarly treatise that includes over 1,200 footnotes, yet reads like a novel.... [Cohen] analyzes in rich detail how this policy of 'nuclear opacity' evolved and what made it possible.
Middle East Policy
Israel and the Bomb should be required reading for those interested in nuclear issues in general and in the complexities of the American-Israeli relationship in particular. For American decision makers, the book should serve as an invaluable case-study of how not to deal with future instances of nuclear proliferation
Choice
This important volume deserves the attention of Middle East scholars and students of foreign policy, nuclear proliferation, and Israeli politics.
Ha'aretz
Cohen's work will necessitate the rewriting of Israel's history, wars, international relations, domestic political crises, economy, psychology, national pride--everything will have to be viewed in a different light.
Paul C. Warnke
A compelling and comprehensive account of the development of what he calls Israel's doctrine of 'nuclear opacity.'
Washington Times
Cohen's book hits nations sensitivity.
Jewish History
... Avner Cohen's book stands in a class of its own. It is the first scholarly study of the history of this project, it is richly documented, and it unveils some of the major mysteries surrounding events by tapping a large body of previously untouched sources.... It can only be assumed that when this national mood of 'nuclear' ignorance changes, Cohen's book will serve as a solid foundation for this debate.
New York Times Book Review
A scholarly treatise that includes over 1,200 footnotes, yet reads like a novel.... [Cohen] analyzes in rich detail how this policy of 'nuclear opacity' evolved and what made it possible.— Lawrence Kolb
Middle East Policy
Israel and the Bomb should be required reading for those interested in nuclear issues in general and in the complexities of the American-Israeli relationship in particular. For American decision makers, the book should serve as an invaluable case-study of how not to deal with future instances of nuclear proliferation— Michael Rubner
Choice
This important volume deserves the attention of Middle East scholars and students of foreign policy, nuclear proliferation, and Israeli politics.— A.R. Norton
Ha'aretz
Cohen's work will necessitate the rewriting of Israel's history, wars, international relations, domestic political crises, economy, psychology, national pride—everything will have to be viewed in a different light.— Tom Segev
Miami Herald
For anyone interested in the never-ending struggles in the Middle East and life on the edge in the nuclear age, this book is a must-read.
Washington Times
Cohen's book hits nations sensitivity.— Dan Ephron
Jewish History
... Avner Cohen's book stands in a class of its own. It is the first scholarly study of the history of this project, it is richly documented, and it unveils some of the major mysteries surrounding events by tapping a large body of previously untouched sources.... It can only be assumed that when this national mood of 'nuclear' ignorance changes, Cohen's book will serve as a solid foundation for this debate.— Uri Bar-Joseph
Tom Segev
Cohen's work will necessitate the rewriting of Israel's history, wars, international relations, domestic political crises, economy, psychology, national pride—everything will have to be viewed in a different light.Uri Bar-Joseph
. . . Avner Cohen's book stands in a class of its own. It is the first scholarly study of the history of this project, it is richly documented, and it unveils some of the major mysteries surrounding events by tapping a large body of previously untouched sources. . . . It can only be assumed that when this national mood of 'nuclear' ignorance changes, Cohen's book will serve as a solid foundation for this debate.Carl Kaysen
Cohen lays out as fully as now possible the intricate interplay of domestic politics in Tel Aviv/Jerusalem, Paris, and Washington with the diplomatic interaction of the three countries, formal and informal, that shaped the path of Israel´s nuclear program. An unmatched and indispensable contribution to understanding our nuclear age, the lessons of Israel and the Bomb have renewed salience in the context of the movement of more nations into the nuclear club.Michael Rubner
Israel and the Bombshould be required reading for those interested in nuclear issues in general and in the complexities of the American-Israeli relationship in particular. For American decision makers, the book should serve as an invaluable case-study of how not to deal with future instances of nuclear proliferation.Miami Herald
For anyone interested in the never-ending struggles in the Middle East and life on the edge in the nuclear age, this book is a must-read.A.R. Norton
This important volume deserves the attention of Middle East scholars and students of foreign policy, nuclear proliferation, and Israeli politics.Lawrence J. Korb
Analyzes in rich detail how [Israel's] policy of 'nucelar opacity' evolved and what made it possible. —The New York Times Book ReviewDan Ephron
Cohen's book hits nations sensitivity.Samuel W. Lewis
This is an extraordinarily important book. Cohen has produced an amazing piece of historical scholarship on a subject deliberately shrouded in clouds of misdirection, for legitimate raisons d´etat, by both Israeli and American governments.Spurgeon Keeny
This impeccably documented history of the first two decades of the Israeli nuclear program illuminates the complex domestic and international forces that shaped the activity and gives the reader fascinating insight into the thinking of Israeli, French, and U.S. leaders on the uniquely sensitive subject that only a few participants were fully aware of at the time.Paul C. Warnke
A compelling and comprehensive account of the development of what he calls Israel´s doctrine of 'nuclear opacity.´Lawrence Kolb
A scholarly treatise that includes over 1, 200 footnotes, yet reads like a novel. . . . [Cohen] analyzes in rich detail how this policy of 'nuclear opacity' evolved and what made it possible.Booknews
The cover photo of a declassified 1971 reconnaissance mission over the Israeli Dimona Nuclear Research Center substantiates perennial speculation about Israel's nuclear capability. Based on numerous newly declassified US and Israeli documents and interviews with key players, Israeli Cohen (National Security Archives, George Washington U.) unveils a covert political history from 1950-70 with implications for the development of Israel's science and technology, relations with the Arabs, and self-image as well as national security. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.David Aikman
What makes Cohen's book so interesting is not that it openly reveals [that Israel had the bomb]....Cohen's account makes it apparent that senior Israeli officials repeatedly lied to the Americans and everyone else in the early stages of their nuclear program...— Books & Culture: A Christian Review