'Israel secretly exploited Egypt's uranium'
Israel secretly exploited and used uranium resources found in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula during the 1950s, a book by an Israeli scientist says.
In his book The Power of Knowledge, Professor Uriel Bachrach said he and his colleagues who traveled to Sinai in 1949 under the guise of a German delegation, found considerable uranium resources in the Sinai Peninsula's phosphate mines, the Lebanese daily al-Balad reported on Tuesday.
Based on the report, when Bachrach's team informed Israeli officials about their findings they decided to secretly exploit and transfer uranium to Israel in order to use it in the regime's nuclear program.
The 83-year-old Israeli scholar worked for the Science Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). According to the book, Bachrach's team pretended to be engineers who were conducting geological research projects in Sinai.
The book also quoted the remarks made by Dr. Ernest David Bergman-the former head of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission and father of Israel's nuclear program-in which he admitted to exploiting uranium from phosphate resources.
The daily added the book sparked controversy in Israel as many viewed its contents in violation of Israel's secrecy code regarding its nuclear program.
The book's contents were confirmed by Ephraim Katzir who in its introduction recommended those interested in nuclear studies to read the book, the daily reported.
3 years ago
