---
born: 1895-03-28
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 1966-12-30
location: Paris, France
summary: Secretary of State under Eisenhower who confronted Israel and France over
  the Dimona nuclear reactor after being shown photographic evidence.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Christian A. Herter served as the Secretary of State under President [Dwight D. Eisenhower](/people/dwight-d-eisenhower/) from 1959 to 1961. In early December 1960, he was reportedly upset upon being shown a photograph of [Dimona](/places/dimona/) taken from a highway, and called in [Avraham Harman](/people/avraham-harman/), the Israeli ambassador, for an explanation. Herter also conducted his own independent checking, asking an aide to approach the French about their involvement with [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear program.[^1]

Herter was instructed by the White House to give a formal diplomatic protest (demarche) to the French. He approached Maurice Couve de Murville, the French foreign minister, who assured the [State Department](/organizations/state-department/) that the Israeli reactor was benign and any plutonium generated would be returned to [France](/places/france/) for safekeeping, a statement later revealed to be a lie.[^1]

On January 6, 1961, Herter gave his farewell briefing as secretary of state to a closed session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he discussed the "disturbing" new element in the Middle East related to [Dimona](/places/dimona/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 6.