Summary
As suggested by the title of their book, Foxbats over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War (Yale University Press, $26), they argue that it originated in a scheme by the Soviet Politburo to eliminate Israel's nuclear facility at Dimona, and with it the country's aspiration to develop nuclear weapons.
Moshe Sneh, an Israeli Communist leader (and father of Ephraim Sneh, the country's current deputy minister of defense), told the Soviet ambassador in December 1965 that an advisor to the prime minister had informed him about "Israel's intention to produce its own atomic bomb."As his Soviet masters then instructed, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser moved his troops toward Israel, removed a United Nations buffer force, and blockaded a key naval route to Israel - three steps that together compelled the Israelis to move to a full-alert defense. Unable to sustain this posture for long, they struck first, thereby, it appeared, falling into the Soviet trap.See the full content of this document
Extract
The Six-Day War: A Soviet, Arab Plot?
The Six-Day War: a Soviet, Arab plot?
AUTHORS CLAIM SOVIETS WERE DETERMINED TO STOP ISRAEL GOING NUCLEAROne of the great enigmas of the modern Middle East is why, 40 years ago this week, the Six-Day War took place.Neither Israel nor...See the full content of this document
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