Israel has never officially admitted to possessing nuclear weapons; however, it is widely believed that Israel has run an active programme since the 1950s, and assembled its first device in 1967 on the eve of the Six Day War. Because of the unofficial nature of the programme, and Israel’s status as a Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) outlier, illicit procurement has been one of the ways that Israel has sought the sensitive technology to supply its programme. This case study looks at an instance of illicit procurement undertaken in the early 1980s where Israel attempted to acquire Krytron tubes from a US Company. Recently released FBI files, the 2011 biography of Israeli film producer Arnon Milchan and press reports from the time allow a relatively detailed picture to be built up of allegations about the transfer of approximately 800 krytrons. The case study goes to highlight the deceptive methods used by those seeking to illicitly procure sensitive technologies. More
