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

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Hedrick Smith.md

@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 ---
+category: "Nuclear Scientists & Programs"
 tags:
   - Person
-  - Journalist
-  - USA
+  - Nuclear
+  - Israel
+summary: "Hedrick Smith was a Washington correspondent for the *New York Times*."
 ---
+
 Hedrick Smith was a Washington correspondent for the *New York Times*. In July 1970, he wrote a front-page story that provided the American public with its first account of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s assessment of the Israeli nuclear arsenal. The article stated that the U.S. government had been conducting its [[Middle East]] policy on the assumption that [[Israel]] either possessed an atomic bomb or had component parts available for quick assembly. Smith's story also described [[Israel]]'s progress in developing its [[Jericho I]] missile system and revealed a manufacturing plant near [[Tel Aviv]] for solid propellants and engines.[^1]
 
 Smith had tried for two years to get the article published, and succeeded after [[Stuart Symington]] acknowledged on a Sunday television interview show that there was "no question that [[Israel]] is doing its best to develop nuclear weapons." Despite the significance of the article, it attracted little attention from other media or Congress, which astonished Smith.[^1]