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+tags:
+  - Person
+  - Diplomat
+  - USA
+---
+William R. Crawford was a young foreign service officer appointed as director of Israeli affairs by the [[State Department]] shortly after [[John F. Kennedy]]'s inauguration. He was asked to draft a letter from the President to [[David Ben-Gurion]] emphasizing that [[America]]'s worldwide position on nonproliferation would be compromised if [[Israel]] pursued an independent course. The letter also demanded inspection of [[Dimona]] and the right to convey the results to [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] to prevent [[Egypt]] from beginning its own nuclear research.[^1]
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+Crawford recalled that Ben-Gurion's reply was long, evasive, and did not agree to the [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]] inspection of [[Dimona]]. Crawford also noted that his draft of the letter was rewritten by [[George Ball]]'s office, which held onto it for days, eventually provoking a complaint from the White House.[^1]
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+### Footnotes
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+[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 8.