Memorandum on Kennedy's Proposals Regarding Middle Eastern Nuclear Capabilities
(March 26, 1963)
This is a memorandum from the National Security
Action Commitee introducing President Kennedy's request for proposals
to forestall Israeli or UAR development of nuclear weapons.
The President desires, as a matter of urgency, that
we undertake every feasible measure to improve our intelligence on the
Israeli nuclear program as well as other Israeli and UAR advanced weapon
programs, and to arrive at a firmer evaluation of their import. In this
connection he wishes the next informal inspection of the Israeli reactor
complex to be undertaken promptly and to be as thorough as possible.
In view of his great concern over the destabilizing
impact of any Israeli or UAR program looking toward the development
of nuclear weapons, the President also wishes the Department of State
to develop proposals for forestalling such programs; in particular we
should develop plans for seeking clearer assurances from the governments
concerned on this point, and means of impressing upon them how seriously
such a development would be regarded in this country.
McGeorge Bundy
Sources: Foreign
Relations of the United States, 1961-1963: Near East, 1962-1963, V.
XVIII. |