Yuval Ne’eman, the nuclear physicist who was the theoretical father of the Israel nuclear weapons program, died in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, aged 81.
(Its political father was none other than Mr. Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres, author of the Qana massacre which occurred almost exactly ten years ago now, in April 1996.)
Ne’eman was also the founder of the viciously territorial maximalist Israeli party Tehiya. He served three terms in Israel’s Knesset for Tehiya, during which time he was a member of three governments, usually having the “Science” portfolio.
And just to demonstrate the connivance with which the US authorities viewed the Israeli nuclear program we can see that in the mid-1970s, Ne’eman was a professor at the University of Texas, which still proudly claims him as an emeritus.
My gosh! Do I smell double standards?
26 thoughts on “Death of world’s foremost nuclear proliferator”
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Ernst Bergmann is the father of the Israeli nuclear program. Ne’eman’s specialty was subatomic particles and field theory. He also founded the Israeli space program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuval_Ne%27eman
My gosh! Do I smell double standards?
Israel isn’t the world’s foremost nuclear proliferator by any metric. What country now has the bomb because of Israeli research? whereas france is responsible for Israel & Iraq’s weapons programs, china for pakistan’s, pakistan for Iran and Libya’s etc.
Ne’eman – a distinguished astronomer and physicist- -taught at U of T for 20 years. Of course it would claim him as an emeritus. How is this meant to prove US ‘connivance’ in Israel’s nuclear program, launched well before Ne’eman even obtained his PhD, before Israel was even a significant ally of the US? FOIA docs show that Kennedy was unequivocally hostile to Israel’s nuclear ambitions during its inception:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/documents/exchange/index.html
is israel a middle eastern country or isn’t it? let’s take this issue to admit it: it’s a european country that happens to be located in the middle east
it’s a European country that happens to be located in the Middle East
The best,” it’s a European country that happens to be inplanted in the Middle East”
is israel a middle eastern country or isn’t it? let’s take this issue to admit it: it’s a european country that happens to be located in the middle east
Bullfeathers. Most of the Israeli population came from Arab countries. Whatever you wanted to prove
you are wrong.
If you judge by institutions, GDP, and entrepreneurship you may say it is neither European nor Middle Eastern. It is North American and apparently damn proud of it.
“Shimon Peres, author of the Qana massacre”
Helena, you are hopelessly prejudiced, hostile and deliberately destructive. You know perfectly well that Hizbollah deliberately and willingly launched weapons into Israel from the middle of a crowded civilian area in order to have the Israeli counterattack kill as many Lebanese as possible.
The Hezbollah deliberately caused the death of their own people and you love it. You support it. You think the headless baby is great propaganda against Israel and in favor of Hezbollah and you want more of it. You are totally disgusting. You should stop calling yourself a pacifist.
Warren, you are hopelessly prejudiced, hostile and deliberately destructive. You know perfectly well that Israel deliberately and willingly launched weapons into Lebanon from the middle of a crowded civilian area in order to have the Hezbollah counterattack kill as many Israelis as possible.
The Israelis deliberately caused the death of their own people and you love it. You support it. You think the headless baby is great propaganda against Hezbollah and in favor of Israel and you want more of it. You are totally disgusting. You should stop calling yourself a whatever.
Is this kind of writing productive? Does it bear much relation to checkable historical facts? Does it tell both sides of the story? What is the point of telling only one side? It clearly is not courteous. Each side has targetted and killed civilians. Each incident should be studied individually and objectively, without picking a team to root for, and without heaping obloquy on a passing expression of what happens to be the standard historical view, even if it favors the other team. Maybe you should learn more about the incident and about Operation Grapes of Wrath, and the war in Lebanon in general. Go to Wikipedia say: The “IDF intentionally attacked the UN compound” according to Amnesty, expressing the standard view of the incident. In any case the Israeli response was wildly disproportionate to the provocation.
I have to agree with John R. here – it’s better to argue with what someone actually says than to put words in her mouth and make ad hominem attacks.
BTW, John, apropos of an earlier discussion, you may be interested to know that an Israeli court recently ruled that the PNA meets the Montevideo criteria for statehood.
Robert Fisk: United States of Israel?
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article360492.ece
If you judge by institutions, GDP, and entrepreneurship you may say it is neither European nor Middle Eastern. It is North American and apparently damn proud of it.
Hmmm, I wouldn’t really say that.
Population: mostly Middle Eastern, followed by (roughly in order) North American, Latin American, Central Asian/Caucasian, Ethiopian and Indian.
Legal system: Anglo-American with a liberal admixture of Ottoman, a minor key in Habsburg and a touch of that old-time religion.
Banking and finance: Central European and very much so.
Business culture: becoming more North American, especially since the high-tech sector got moving, but still not entirely so.
Social-welfare policy: Traditionally European, but unfortunately trending toward North American.
National-minority policy: half EU, half Ottoman.
Aesthetic, food, music etc.: a combination of Middle Eastern, European and North American norms, with Middle Eastern cultural influences probably most prevalent in food and American influences in music.
Et cetera, et cetera. Israel is Israeli, and trying to pigeonhole it generally isn’t a good idea.
Population: mostly Middle Eastern, followed by (roughly in order) North American, Latin American, Central Asian/Caucasian, Ethiopian and Indian.
“European” should of course go immediately after “Middle Eastern.”
“just to demonstrate the connivance with which the US authorities viewed the Israeli nuclear program we can see that in the mid-1970s, Ne’eman was a professor at the University of Texas, which still proudly claims him as an emeritus.”
really? This line of reasoning recalls the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Helena, you are hopelessly prejudiced, hostile and deliberately destructive. You know perfectly well that Hizbollah deliberately and willingly launched weapons into Israel from the middle of a crowded civilian area in order to have the Israeli counterattack kill as many Lebanese as possible.
The Hezbollah deliberately caused the death of their own people and you love it. You support it. You think the headless baby is great propaganda against Israel and in favor of Hezbollah and you want more of it.
Not a single authentic fact there. Why do you propagate such hate-filled lies and blood libels, WarrenW? You must really be in a very sad, sick place. I hope you feel better soon.
Maybe reading some actual accounts of the tragic events at Qana could help you reconnect with reality and with the rest of humanity.
Helena, why do you claim that Ne’eman “was the theoretical father of the Israel nuclear weapons program” when he didn’t even get his PhD until 1962? Whatever compelled you to describe him as “the worlds foremost nuclear proliferator”? I understand you don’t like the man’s politics (and I don’t blame you) but this is no excuse for posthumous slanders. Anyway, I hope you feel better soon.
“Ne’eman’s specialty was subatomic particles and field theory.”
This is correct; Ne’eman was part of the particle physics group at UT and made some important contributions in that field; this does not mean he did not work on Israel’s bomb. Many of the physicists from the Manhattan project went on to work in particle physics.
“…when he didn’t even get his PhD until 1962? ”
This does not mean Ne’eman did not work on Israel’s bomb. SInce he was born in 1925 he was old enough to have been involved. Richard Feynman, for example, worked at the Manhattan project before earning his PhD.
I read the beginning of Hersh’s “The Sampson Option” some time ago and I don’t recall Ne’eman’s name occurring. SOmeone else was mentioned as “Israel’s Oppenheimer”.
I crossed paths with Ne’eman at a conference on “Weapons of Mass Destruction” at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. You can probably guess which WMD’s were discussed at the conference and which were not. I went there with several people to hand out leaflets about the sanctions on Iraq. One of us sat through the conference to ask a question at the end. His question– I think it related to U.S. double standards, went to a panel that included Ne’eman. Nobody really responeded to the question. Ne’emans simply replied “you and I see things completely differently” which was probably true.
The conference was somewhat bizarre. Our group had many questions to raise and almost no opportunity to ask them. In an academic setting there should be space for a dialogue.
He was just a normal Israeli student, normal Israeli citizen happen to be studied in that Uni.
Physics professor Yuval Ne`eman
fair enough….
Okay, I’m happy to re-describe Ne’eman as “a key theoretical contributor to” Israel’s nuclear-weapons program. As was, most likely, Edward Teller, father of the the (US) thermonuclear weapon.
My general point, since I’m a US citizien, was to point out the double standard the US authorities and most US-based commentators have long applied regarding the leakage of nuclear-weapons expertise (and uranium) to Israel, in comparison with any other instances of such forms of nuclear proliferation. That stands.
My general point, since I’m a US citizien, was to point out the double standard the US authorities and most US-based commentators have long applied regarding the leakage of nuclear-weapons expertise (and uranium) to Israel, in comparison with any other instances of such forms of nuclear proliferation.
There are two standards. Those applying to NPT signatories (like Iran) and those applying to non-NPT signatories like Israel, pre-1992 France and pre-1992 China. Israel, France and China all built their nuclear weapons at roughly the same time, before the NPT with no assistance from the US, and against the [legally groundless] demands of the US leadership. Unlike France and China, however Israel hasn’t exported its nuclear weapons research to any non-nuclear state. So calling it “world’s foremost nuclear proliferator” is a stretch.
“There are two standards.”
It seems to me it is worse if a country has not signed the NPT. At least if a country has signed the treaty it has indicated a williness to avoid nuclear weapons through diplomacy.
“…calling it “world’s foremost nuclear proliferator” is a stretch.”
I am not aware of Israel proliferating these weapons in a narrow sense beyond its collaboration with South Africa. However, just developing Israel’s own arsenal is an act of proliferation. Israel’s possession of these weapons forces its neighbors to seek them for self-defense. This situation has undermined the NPT and probably done as much harm to efforts to abolish these weapons as anything else. Remember the controversy when the NPT was recently renewed?
As far as Ne’eman is concerned, he was an odius character with or without involvement in developing Israel’s WMD. I am saddened but not suprised UT was associated with him; in the U.S. crimes against Palestinians are simply not acknowledged.
At least if a country has signed the treaty it has indicated a williness to avoid nuclear weapons through diplomacy.
Or it’s trying (like Iran) to obtain hardware, nuclear fuel and technical assistance. Iran has shown (with its illegal covert research programs) it’s no more committed to the NPT than Israel, signature notwithstanding.
This situation has undermined the NPT
Iran ratified the NPT in 1970, after Israel was known to possess nuclear weapons. As noted, Israel’s bomb actually predates the NPT itself. so this construction makes no sense at all. It’s a red herring.
Iran is no more “forced to seek nuclear weapons for its defense” than any nation adjoining France or China or the USA.
I am saddened but not suprised UT was associated with him; in the U.S. crimes against Palestinians are simply not acknowledged.
Are you saddened that the US space program was led for years by a former SS officer? I suspect wernher Von braun had more direct complicity in war crimes than ne’eman.
If Israel’s bomb pre-dates the NPT, and if we are treating equals equally, then we should have Israel sign the NPT and have it declared a pre-existing nuclear power, with all of the rights and obligations as such.
If we were a real stickler for Helena’s mantra of “human equality now” I suppose we should also give Israel a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, since the five pre-existing nuclear powers “just happen” to have such seats.
Joshua,
Even an occasional rotating seat, would be nice!
Important article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on Israel, the US, the bomb and the NPT in the Nixon era based on documents declassified two days ago. Interesting that Ne’eman’s Ph.D. adviser was the (Ahmadi) muslim Abdus Salam.
Jonathan: Yes, I know. Very interesting. The blog discussions must have been the decisive point for the judge :-).Was going to ask you about something puzzling about the decision on your blog – “The judge does make the point that the declarative theory isn’t fully applicable because the PNA hasn’t yet declared itself a state, but he apparently considers it “state enough” because it meets the standard criteria.” It doesn’t seem too likely that the PNA, an entity founded in agreements between the PLO and Israel, will declare itself a state – perhaps the government of one? – as “the State of Palestine” was already declared in 1988 by the PLO and is recognized as a state by about 90 states. Even though it strengthens his arguments, I guess the judge didn’t want to mention this? Similar to Israel insisting on Arafat not using his title as President of the State of Palestine when in Palestine? Probably the Benvenisti article could help here.
The blog discussions must have been the decisive point for the judge :-).
Well, I wouldn’t necessarily go that far… but can I call it or what?
“the State of Palestine” was already declared in 1988 by the PLO and is recognized as a state by about 90 states. Even though it strengthens his arguments, I guess the judge didn’t want to mention this?
The Palestinian state of the Algiers declaration isn’t a Montevideo state, because it fails the territorial criterion. It’s at least arguable that the PLO, as the internationally accredited representative of all Palestinians, meets the other three criteria. However, the entity that actually governs Gaza and Area A (to the extent that Israel doesn’t) is the PNA rather than the PLO, and the current PNA government doesn’t recognize the PLO’s political supremacy.
A proponent of the constitutive theory of statehood (in which international recognition is the keystone) would have an easier time arguing for the PLO-declared State of Palestine – but according to the constitutive theory, the PNA isn’t a sovereign state. One of the reasons I favor Montevideo over the constitutive theory is exactly this sort of situation: given a choice between a phantom government and a real one, Montevideo grants the rights of statehood to the latter.
Similar to Israel insisting on Arafat not using his title as President of the State of Palestine when in Palestine?
Funny how it isn’t as particular about Abbas…