vault backup: 2026-05-13 21:30:09

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/David E. Long.md

@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 ---
+category: "Nuclear Scientists & Programs"
 tags:
   - Person
-  - Diplomat
-  - USA
+  - Nuclear
+  - Israel
+summary: "State Department Middle East expert who revealed that Israeli nuclear intelligence was treated as a strictly taboo subject within the U.S. bureaucracy."
 ---
+
 David E. Long was a [[State Department]] [[Middle East]] expert. He explained that the Israeli nuclear issue was taboo within the bureaucracy, and that [[State Department]] and [[Pentagon]] staff officers who wanted to learn more about [[Israel]]'s nuclear weapons could not, because such intelligence carried the highest classification. Long recalled being informally questioned by diplomats from the [[Middle East]] about [[Israel]]'s nuclear arms, and his response was always that "we don't know anything and here is what the Israelis say." He refused a superior's request to put this response in writing, arguing that delivering a deliberately false impression went beyond subterfuge.[^1]
 
 ### Footnotes