Shalheveth Freier was an Israeli nuclear physicist with impeccable credentials. He served as scientific counselor to the Israeli embassy in [[Paris]] during the critical days of the 1950s, when the Israeli–French nuclear understanding was reached. Freier enjoyed high standing among international scientists and was particularly well known to American nuclear weapons designers.[^1] Freier was the replacement for [[Aharon Katzir]] as the innovative physicist in charge of [[Dimona]] after Katzir's death in May 1972. During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], Freier provided a separate, preliminary briefing to [[Golda Meir]]'s "kitchen cabinet" on the nuclear weapons and targets available for immediate assembly.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 16, 17.