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CIA: We said back in 1974 that Israel had nuclear weapons
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, CIA, nuclear weapons 

The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by bodies including the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined in August 1974 that Israel had nuclear "weapons in being," a "small number" of which it "produced and stockpiled."

Israel was also suspected of providing nuclear materials, equipment or technology to Iran, South Africa and other then-friendly countries.

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his top secret document, consigned to the CIA's vaults for almost 32 years, was suddenly released to the public this week, during U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Israel and on the eve of his trip to the Persian Gulf.

A small part of the document was released in early 2006 under a Freedom of Information Request placed by scholars Avner Cohen and William Burr, but only as an attachment to a 1975 State Department paper ostensibly disputing the the portrayal of Israel's nuclear weapons as a fact.

This served the Department of State's effort to avoid addressing Israel's nuclear status in response to a query by Congressman Alan Steelman.

The Department of State, led in this exercise by officials Joseph Sisco, Alfred (Roy) Atherton and Harold Saunders, tried to depict the 1974 Special National Intelligence Assesment, "Prospects for further proliferation of nuclear weapons," as a CIA project, while in fact it was an agency-wide effort that included its own intelligence chief, William Hyland, as a senior member of the board that agreed to the conclusions.

The CIA was asked Thursday via e-mail about the strange coincidence of the document's release a mere month after the publication of its awkwardly worded NIE on Iran's nuclear weapons program. It did not respond by deadline.

The issue of an American double standard regarding the nuclear activities of Israel and Iran often comes up when senior American officials visit the Gulf, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates did last month.

In both the original 1974 document and the 1975 State Department paper (in which it was retyped), the entire intelligence community determined, "Israel already has produced nuclear weapons." This analysis was based on "Israeli acquisition of large quantities of uranium," in part covertly; on Israel's ambiguous efforts to enrich uranium; and on the huge investment in the "Jericho" surface-to-surface missile "designed to accommodate nuclear warheads." Short of a grave threat to the nation's existence, Israel was not expected to confirm its suspected capability "by nuclear testing or by threats of use."

While Israel's nuclear weapons "cannot be proven beyond a shadow of doubt," several bodies of information point strongly toward a program stretching back over a number of years, the document states.

The 1974 document describes the Jericho project, from its inception in France through its migration to Israel to the replacement of the original inertial guidance system by an Israeli design "based on components produced in Israel under licenses from U.S. companies."

Israel Aircraft Industries is responsible for the development of the missile and has constructed a number of facilities for production and testing north of Tel Aviv, near Haifa, at Ramle and nearby it "a missile assembly and checkout plant."

On Iran, the 1974 NIE said, "there is no doubt of the Shah's ambition to make Iran a power to reckon with. If he is alive in the mid-80's, if Iran has a full-fledged nuclear power industry and all the facilities necessary for nuclear weapons, and if other countries have proceeded with weapons development, we have no doubt that Iran will follow suit."

The Shah's ouster in 1979 (and death a year later) apparently slowed down Iran's nuclear project.

The authors of the NIE wrote that the U.S. helped France expedite its nuclear program, France in turn helped Israel, and much like France and India, Israel, "while unlikely to foster proliferation as a matter of national policy, probably will prove susceptible to the hue of economic and political advantages to be gained from exporting materials, technology and equipment relevant to nuclear weapons programs."

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      1.   Israel`s pretty good at this, aren`t they? 06:21  |  Colin Wright 11/01/08
      2.   next CIA and State report: how we failed to neuter Pak nukes ! 06:41  |  Phantom 11/01/08
      3.   "the Jews killed Jesus and some 2,000 years later enabled Shi`a 07:12  |  avigdor 11/01/08
      4.   Demand the extradition of - 07:31  |  English Resident 11/01/08
      5.   No "double standard"-Iran signed NPT and cheated; Israel did not. 08:07  |  Dr. L. Brnd 11/01/08
      6.   Israel Does Not Act Like a Nuclear Power 08:42  |  Ron 11/01/08
      7.   Israel`s Historical Machinations 08:54  |  Michael 11/01/08
      8.   Well, this report certainly does take 08:59  |  ballistic 11/01/08
      9.   Requqired reading for Bush 09:16  |  Natallie Durson 11/01/08
      10.   The profit probably seemed attractive at the time 09:22  |  Clickfool 11/01/08
      11.   Israeli nukes : the world is struck by collective Alzheimers 09:27  |  Clickfool 11/01/08
      12.   The truth can only help peace. 10:24  |  Michael 11/01/08
      13.   The CIA has just discovered China ! 10:52  |  Steve the Pals. 11/01/08
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      15.   PROOF ISRAEL HAS NO PROBLEM WITH IRAN-ONLY FANATIC MUSLIMS 11:06  |  CHACHAM MIMCHA 11/01/08
      16.   Note to ClickFOOL and Nataboohoo 11:26  |  HST 11/01/08
      17.   #6, ballistic 11:26  |  Avi 11/01/08
      18.   clickfool and israeli nukes 11:27  |  brighton rock 11/01/08
      19.   For Shmatali and the FOOL 11:30  |  RLP 11/01/08
      20.   clickfool isreal is far too clever 11:31  |  brighton rock 11/01/08
      21.   #7, Natallie Durson 11:32  |  Avi 11/01/08
      22.   humanity is frail 11:34  |  brighton rock 11/01/08
      23.   michael israel has certainly made mistakes 11:40  |  andifnot 11/01/08
      24.   michael "israel`s shameful skeleton" 11:42  |  andifnot 11/01/08
      25.   michael "israel`s collaboration with the shah" 11:45  |  andifnot 11/01/08
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      27.   michael israel and south africa 11:55  |  lord byron 11/01/08
      28.   michael so you think the mullahs are better then the shah 12:01  |  captain wentworth 11/01/08
      29.   michael deals in superlatives 12:03  |  keats 11/01/08
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      35.   23, 26, 28 So I have to spell it out to you guys? 13:27  |  Michael 11/01/08
      36.   Defense against truths 13:35  |  Goldberg 11/01/08
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      40.   So lets get this right 14:25  |  Chris Linthwaite 11/01/08
      41.   3 Postulates 14:28  |  Barry 11/01/08
      42.   lakshmi with the best will in the world 14:38  |  nachson 11/01/08
      43.   Smart guys 14:44  |  Frank 11/01/08
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      48.   #14 15:15  |  Moshe 11/01/08
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      57.   Nuclear weapons, well well well ... 16:50  |  Protected Civilian 11/01/08
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      116.   Amir Oren, Who did you ask? 17:52  |  Reader 12/01/08
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