---
born: 1908
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 1998
location: New York City, New York
summary: Abraham Feinberg was a wealthy New York businessman and ardent advocate of
  statehood for Israel.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Abraham Feinberg was a wealthy New York businessman and ardent advocate of statehood for [Israel](/places/israel/). By 1947, he played a major and discreet role in fundraising and White House lobbying for [Israel](/places/israel/) and the Democratic Party. He would operate at the highest levels between [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) and [Jerusalem](/places/jerusalem/) for two decades.[^1]

Feinberg was a close friend of [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/), and in the fall of 1947, Bergmann indiscreetly revealed to Feinberg that there was uranium in the [Negev](/places/negev-desert/) desert, implying a path for [Israel](/places/israel/) to develop the atomic bomb. Feinberg was astonished by this talk and "shushed him up."[^1]

Feinberg was recruited by [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) in 1945 to help raise money for guerrilla operations against the British mandatory power in [Palestine](/places/palestine/). He recalled that the kibbutz's administrative building, constructed near a large British military base, was a "fraud," serving as a cover for a secret underground plant producing bullets for the Hagannah. The facility was "scooped out" in twenty-seven days, with workers alternating between farming and arms production to maintain the deception.[^2]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2.
[^2]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 15.