This fascinating work of investigative history sifts hard fact from the decade's rumors and half-confirmed reports about Israel's nuclear weapons program. The result is a convincing description of nuclear capacity sought from the very beginning of the new state and achieved while Americans pretended ignorance or provided indirect assistance. Hersh argues that it is virtually certain that Israel received accelerated aid from the United States during the 1973 Yom Kippuf War by "nuclear blackmail," i.e., threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Arab foes.