THE BOMB IN THE BASEMENT: HOW ISRAEL WENT NUCLEAR by Michael Karpin

Nonfiction - 11/14/2005 - Publishers Weekly:

SIGNATURE REVIEW by Lydia Millet

The Bomb in the Basement: How Israel Went Nuclear and What That Means for the World
Michael Karpin. Simon & Schuster, $26 (416p) ISBN 0-7432-6594-7

…

Israeli journalist Karpin’s groundbreaking new book, following in the wake of a documentary of the same name he made in 2001, offers an in-depth look at Israel’s acquisition of nuclear arms technology and at the ideology and politics driving it….

Karpin’s strength lies in tracing material detail rather than inspeculation of a more abstract kind. … The irony that Israel—a state created with a very special mission as a utopian refuge for Jews escaping persecution and genocide—has chosen to base its security on a weapons system historically used exclusively for the mass killing of civilians is barely examined.

This is hardly surprising, since such a discussion could amply fill a second volume; nonetheless, the author’s conclusion that achieving the nuclear option, though possibly a “great mistake,” did have a “certain justification,” namely the threat of the destruction of Israel by neighboring Arabs, is conceptually underwhelming. Still, for all those interested in understanding how Israel’s idealistic origins dovetail with its hawkish position in the game of nuclear deterrence and fraught relationship with other countries in the Middle East, this well-researched study is a must-read. (Jan.)

Just about every documentary that gets sold to network TV here or in the UK generates a book. Most of them are a little bit “underwhelming” because there is no strictly textual impetus for the book’s creation. Nevertheless, this looks like one that I will definitely want to read.

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