---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: David Lowenthal was one of the initial stockholders in the Nuclear Materials
  and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC).
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

David Lowenthal was one of the initial stockholders in the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC). He had helped bring illegal immigrants into [Israel](/places/israel/) before 1948. His involvement, along with [Zalman Mordecai Shapiro](/people/zalman-mordecai-shapiro/)'s ties to [Israel](/places/israel/), fueled suspicions within the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) that NUMEC was part of a long-range Israeli intelligence scheme to divert uranium.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 18.