Date

Apr 11, 1963

Description

In the spring of 1963 some top officials in Israel, primarily Mossad chief Isser Harel with the support of Foreign Minister Golda Meir, initiated a public campaign (via leaks to the Israeli media) about German scientists in Egypt involved in developing ballistic missiles and radiological weapons, possibly even nuclear weapons. Reinforcing NSAM 231 and raising the urgency, State Department intelligence chief Thomas Hughes asked DCI McCone to issue a special NIE on “advanced weapons programs” in both the UAR and Israel. Hughes asked McCone for a “comprehensive round-up of available intelligence on UAR and Israeli developmental programs and capabilities in the fields of nuclear weapons, missiles, and bacteriological, chemical, and radiological warfare,” as well as the nature of any foreign private or governmental assistance in those areas.

Source

CIA FOIA Reading Room

Document published in following posting(s):

The Battle of the Letters, 1963: John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and the U.S. Inspections of Dimona

May 2, 2019

[Excised] Executive Officer, Board of National Estimates to Allen Evans, INR et al., “SNIE 30-2-63: The Advanced Weapons Programs of the UAR and Israel,” 11 April 1963, enclosing memorandum from Thomas Hughes, INR, to DCI John McCone, n.d., Secret, Excised copy