The Bomb in the Basement: How Israel Went Nuclear and What That Means for the World [Paperback]

Michael Karpin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 9, 2007

As Iran continues to develop its nuclear program and explicitly denounces Israel, Michael Karpin's The Bomb in the Basement provides important context for the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

After Israel won its war of independence in 1948, founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion realized that his country faced the possibility of having to fight Arab nations again in the future. He embraced the idea of developing a nuclear capability and put a young lieutenant, Shimon Peres, in charge of the project. This was the beginning of Israel's quest for nuclear capability, a project that could not have happened without the cooperation of the French. In The Bomb in the Basement, journalist Michael Karpin gives us the most complete account of how Israel became the Middle East's only nuclear power and how its status as an officially unacknowledged nuclear nation affects the politics of that volatile region.

Karpin's research includes exclusive interviews that provide new insights into the key figures behind the program (notably a harsh rivalry between Peres and Isser Harel, the first head of Mossad). He explains how different U.S. administrations have dealt with Israel's nuclear status, from Eisenhower's disapproval to Johnson's open support. And he shows how the key to Israel's nuclear capability has been its policy of "nuclear ambiguity."

A compelling account of a complicated history, The Bomb in the Basement raises provocative questions about how Israel's nuclear arsenal may affect not only its own future, but the future of the entire Middle East.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743265955
• ISBN-13: 978-0743265959
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

[Signature]Reviewed by Lydia MilletUntil recently there were five declared nuclear powers in the world: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China. Israel has never admitted to possessing a nuclear arsenal, pursuing a policy of "ambiguity" and refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but for decades it has been recognized internationally as a nuclear state.Israeli journalist Karpin's groundbreaking new book, following in the wake of a documentary of the same name he made in 2001, offers an in-depth look at Israel's acquisition of nuclear arms technology and at the ideology and politics driving it. The stories of the men who played major roles in bringing the bomb to Israel—longtime prime minister David Ben-Gurion, scientist Ernst Bergmann, diplomat and intelligence operative Shalhevet Freier, future Nobel laureate Shimon Peres—are compelling and finely drawn. That Israel's technical capacity to produce nuclear weapons should have come through backdoor negotiations with France, rather than from its richer and more powerful American ally, will come as a surprise to many readers not familiar with this complex and intriguing history.Karpin's strength lies in tracing material detail rather than in speculation of a more abstract kind. He avoids exploring the philosophical and moral dimensions of Israel's deployment of nuclear weapons or of its policy of official denial, tending to invoke the horrors of the Holocaust as inspiration for defense of the Jewish state rather than to examine the specific reverberations of the official choice to embrace and hide weapons of mass destruction. The irony that Israel—a state created with a very special mission as a utopian refuge for Jews escaping persecution and genocide—has chosen to base its security on a weapons system historically used exclusively for the mass killing of civilians is barely examined.This is hardly surprising, since such a discussion could amply fill a second volume; nonetheless, the author's conclusion that achieving the nuclear option, though possibly a "great mistake," did have a "certain justification," namely the threat of the destruction of Israel by neighboring Arabs, is conceptually underwhelming. Still, for all those interested in understanding how Israel's idealistic origins dovetail with its hawkish position in the game of nuclear deterrence and fraught relationship with other countries in the Middle East, this well-researched study is a must-read. (Jan.)Lydia Millet's most recent novel, Oh Pure and Radiant Heart (Soft Skull), brings atom bomb physicists Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard back to life in modern-day Santa Fe.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

At a time when the U.S. is at war with Iraq and threatens sanctions--or worse--against Iran to curb nuclear armaments in the Middle East, this book explores how Israel has been able to finesse the buildup of its nuclear capabilities. Israel is the only nongreat power whose nuclear development is unchallenged and even supported by the U.S. At the close of World War II, Israel--like other nations--understood the potential deterrent value of nuclear weaponry. Karpin details how Israel assembled a team of technical experts and took advantage of the political needs of France and Britain on their Arab colonial front. Successive American administrations since Eisenhower have viewed Israel as an "asset" with a special relationship with the U.S., serving its interests in the Middle East. Karpin also analyzes the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the context of Israel's nuclear developments. However, his argument for Israel's nuclear capabilities as a deterrent and stabilizing force, even as it is denied or obfuscated as an energy program, raises issues about other nations using the same strategy and rationale. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743265955
• ISBN-13: 978-0743265959
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Karpin (born 1945; lives in Tel Aviv) is a journalist, author of non-fiction books and director/producer of TV documentaries.
For 25 years Karpin was television and radio news reporter, anchor, and TV Channel One's bureau chief in Bonn (1976-80) and Moscow (1991-92); Chief News Editor (1983-86) and editor and presenter of his network's flagship program, "Second Look" (1986-90 and 1993-95).
Karpin's books and documentaries were instrumental in exposing two of Israel's most controversial issues: Dimona's nuclear activities and the incitement campaign that preceded the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In 1983, Karpin broke the story of Israel's secret service fabrication of evidence in the course of Bus Line 300's investigation.
For his three chapters' TV series "Distant Relatives" (1995), portraying the Jewish community in North-America, B`nai B`rith awarded Karpin their World Center Award for Journalism.
Karpin's TV documentary "A Bomb in the Basement" (2001) tells for the first time in television the story of the development of Israel's nuclear capability. It had been screened by numerous television networks, international film festivals and professional conferences.
His TV documentary "The Road to Rabin Square" (1997) won a jury Special Recognition in the Biarritz FIPA 1998's Festival, and a Silver Medal in 1997's NY Festival for International Television Programming and Promotion. Television networks in 15 countries screened it, including France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa and Australia. Arte screened it twice.
Karpin's documentary "Jerusalem is Full of Used Jews" (2006) presents a new artistic and political perspective of Yehuda Amichai's poems of Jerusalem.
His documentary "I Can't Take It Any More" (2007) describes in details the sorrowful last years of Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Karpin's website: www.michaelkarpin.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Detailed History of Israel's Nuclear Weapon Program January 4, 2006

By Todd R. Konkel

Format:Hardcover

Michael Karpin's "The Bomb in the Basement" is a well-researched account of the development of Israel's nuclear weapon program. However, the preeminent scholarly work on this subject remains Avner Cohen's "Israel and the Bomb." Perhaps the greatest shortcoming of "The Bomb in the Basement" is the lack of detailed citations, which will make it very difficult for scholars to benefit from Karpin's research. For example, it is frequently unclear whether the author obtained quotes from interviews, diaries or secondary sources. Also, although Karpin effectively demonstrates how the Holocaust and fear of being wiped out by Arab enemies motivated Israeli leaders David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres and Ernst David Bergmann to pursue a nuclear option, this concept has already been thoroughly addressed by Avner Cohen. Nevertheless, even readers of Cohen's book will find new insights in Karpin's account. For example, "The Bomb in the Basement" highlights the roles of lesser known players in Israel's nuclear history, including Munya Mardor, director of Israeli defense firm RAFAEL, and Shalhevet Freier, a diplomat/defense attaché who was instrumental in securing French assistance to Israel.

Karpin also brings to life the various political, bureaucratic and ideological differences among Israel's elites, such as the rift between Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president. Other highlights include a never-before-published account of a radioactivity accident at Israel's Weizmann Institute in 1957 and an exploration of France's motives for aiding Israel in the construction of the nuclear reactor at Dimona.... Finally, whereas Cohen's account ends in the early 1970s, Karpin concludes his book with a chapter that recaps more recent events shaping Israel's security environment and examines the implications of a nuclear-armed Iran. The latter discussion is particularly relevant in light of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent call to wipe Israel "off the map." Overall, Michael Karpin's "The Bomb in the Basement" objectively tackles a subject that has historically received far less attention than it merits. While the book may have limited scholarly value because of its scant citations, more casual readers will find it a compelling and informative read. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars lots of juicy tidbits here October 15, 2008

By Christian F. Hansen

Format:Paperback

This is a terrific book. It's a bit gossipy, which makes it extra entertaining. Example: Golda Meir's breakdown during the Y-K war; the general contempt for Shimon Peres; how both Truman and Kennedy acknowledged that they owed their election to the Lobby; how Rabin got his Phantoms out of LBJ; Teller's assistance with the project. There is a great deal of information about the French connection, pre-de-Gaulle. And it is of course not just about the development of the device, but about the creation and growth of Israel in general.

A couple of details reviewers might find of interest, recalling that Karpin can't say a number of things, and other things he simply doesn't know about (his unknown unknowns). 1) Nothing new here but the bland denials about the 1979 test; yet most who have reviewed the Vela flash and corroborating evidence seem nearly 100% convinced that it was a genuine test. (Karpin talks about "photographs" from Vela, so he hasn't investigated this very deeply.) 2) Nothing new about USS Liberty, although most likely Karpin does know what really occurred. 3) A bit of interesting detail about the Egyptian (prob. Russian) overflights of Dimona in May 1967, during extreme tension. This is good, because a couple of Israeli jokesters have weaved a conspiracy theory about it recently (Foxbats over Dimona). Karpin says they were MiG-21s dashing in from Jordan at 55,000 feet and the IAF Mirage IIICs could not catch them.

A very good read, but obviously not the whole story, and probably not all accurate. Ben-Gurion made a wise choice back at the founding; events continue to prove him right.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting work January 13, 2006

By Seth J. Frantzman HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

The story being told here has been covered by others, namely in `The Samson option' and `Israel and the bomb' however this book not only updates the story regarding the Yom Kippur War but also explores the characters involved, it is a story worth telling again and a brilliant examination of the personalities of Ben-Gurion, Peres and others. Most familiar with Israel today will be surprised to learn that France was Israel's closest ally in the 1950s, when America opposed Israeli policies. This book serves as a good account also of the nature of Israeli reasoning regarding the bomb. This is not a dramatically biased book, so most readers should be able to stomach it, since most people are incapable of reading anything about Israel if it doesn't fit their ideological love-hate of the country, but this book should sidestep this to some extant, unlike `Samson' option it isn't basing its logic on the question of why Jews should or shouldn't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons by using Biblical analysis, rather it is a modern fair book examining how Israel obtained the bomb. Israel, alone among the many nations who covertly have attempted to develop nuclear weapons secretly(Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, Libya etc...), did not sign the non-proliferation treaty, so as to remain `ambiguous' and thus not in violation, unlike other hypocritical nations who sign the bogus treaty and then build nukes. Ironically the very same people that condemn Israel's possession of nukes are the same people who condemn America for daring to invade Iraq because of WMDs, in there view Israel possessing WMDs is tantamount to the `holocaust' whereas Iraq or Iran pursuing the same objective is merely for `national defense and sovereignty and combating colonialism'....

A good read, fair, however it is a mostly popular work.

Seth J. Frantzman Read more ›