London Helped Israel Develop Nukes: Documents

CAIRO, December 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Newly declassified British documents showed London helped Israel obtain its nuclear bomb 40 years ago, the Guardian reported Saturday, December 10.

"The main Israeli achievement in the importing line relates to 20 tones of heavy water ... which the UK Atomic Energy Authority had contracted to buy from Norway and later found to be surplus to their requirements ... negotiations were undertaken whereby the water ultimately passed into Israeli hands," read a Joint Intelligence Bureau report to spy chiefs dated March 27 1961.

Documents, revealed under the Freedom of Information Act, not only confirm that Britain was a knowing party to the deal, but also contain intelligence assessments confirming that the sale of heavy water was crucial to Israel's nuclear weapons program, according to the British daily.

Israel's nuclear arsenal has reportedly grown from an estimated 13 nuclear bombs in 1967 to 400 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons.

The CIA and the Pentagon have estimated that Israel now has between 200 and 400 enhanced radiation and hydrogen weapons.

Click to read the Guardian's article.