The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy [Hardcover]

Seymour M. Hersh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 1991

An investigation into Israel's nuclear capabilities discloses information about the country's rush toward nuclear status, its collaboration with South Africa and Iran, and its espionage activities. Reprint. NYT.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hersh's investigation into Israel's nuclear capabilities sparked a series of controversies when it appeared in hardcover, and spent three weeks on PW 's bestseller list.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Ever since the early 1950s, Israel has had one military eye firmly fixed on atomic weapons as a means of salvation, using them primarily as a military threat for both offensive and defensive purposes. Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winner, expounds on the steady but quiet growth of an Israeli nuclear industry that proved so successful that Israel was able to coerce several U.S. administrations into doing its bidding. He also explores in depth Israeli access to U.S. intelligence satellite technologies that resulted from inattention by Washington leaders as well as from the four years of insider spying by Jonathan Jay Pollard. He reveals that the Soviet Union has been targeted by Israeli nuclear warheads since the mid-1980s. Unlike several other recent expos es of Israeli intelligence apparatus (Ian Black and Benny Morris's Israel's Secret Wars , LJ 8/91, and Andrew and Leslie Cockburn's Dangerous Liaison , LJ 6/15/91), Hersh follows the threads of a specific intelligence focus while highlighting U.S. policies that ultimately ignore the very real presence of the Israeli nuclear arsenal. This incredibly well-written book should be in every collection.
- David Snider, Casa Grande P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (October 27, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394570065
• ISBN-13: 978-0394570068
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Investigative Book!, July 18, 2002

By 

Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal & American Foreign Policy (Paperback)

This book proved to be very interesting when I started reading it.It gives you a very good inside look of how Israel was able to obtain the atomic.Seymour Hersh shows how Israel dealt with the United States,South Africa,and Iran to obtain the technology
and materials to become a nuclear power. You are shown the spy activities that were used by Israel to make this a sucessful effort.This book leaves little to the imagination.This is a good history of the nuclear movement in Israel.Read this book,you
will enjoy it.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Detective Work!, July 28, 2003

By 

Giant Panda (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal & American Foreign Policy (Paperback)

As is necessary for a subject as shrouded in secrecy, the author must do a considerable amount of detective work in order to arrive at a deep understanding. "The Samson Option" is exemplary in this style of book. Written like a detective story and with not a page lacking suspense, this book rivals any of the best Sherlock Holmes or the best modern-day thrillers. Yet, this is no fiction! It is apparent from the thorough notes that the author hasn't spared an ounce of meticulous research about such an important topic as nuclear weaponry. In it we learn about espionage tales, about cold war alliances, and about nuclear blackmail. Does Israel have nuclear weapons? If so how did they obtain them? What is the United States position on this, and why does it matter? Who funded the Israeli bomb? "The Samson Option" answers all these questions and many more, but in the process generates many more questions and mysteries that remain to be solved. Truly thought-provoking and enjoyable reading!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American Policy & Israel's Nuclear Program, July 10, 2001

By 

Gavin M Douglas (Lexington, Va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (Hardcover)

This book tells how Israel became a secret nuclear power during the cold-war with the help of the U.S. "It also tells how that secret was shared sanction and at times, willfully ignored by the top political and military officials of the U.S since the Eisenhower years" (author's note). Hypocrisy aside, the author recalls the events that shaped the Israeli program, though he never strays far from U.S. interests and involvement. In his opinion, the Israli nuclear program could not have existed without the continuous aid of the U.S. He also pays attention to the political climate between the two allies, and how different presidents could effect the balance of information flowing between Israel and the U.S.