---
born: 1905-12-31
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 1975-10-03
location: Flers-de-l'Orne, France
summary: Guy Mollet was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France
  from 1956 to 1957.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- Politician
- Israel
- Soviet
---

Guy Mollet was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of [France](/places/france/) from 1956 to 1957. His socialist government took a harder line on the war in [Algeria](/places/algeria/) and against Arab leaders like [Gamal Abdel Nasser](/people/gamal-abdel-nasser/) who supported the revolutionaries. [Israel](/places/israel/), which was intensively waging guerrilla war against [Egypt](/places/egypt/), was seen as one of [France](/places/france/)'s most dependable allies during his tenure.[^1]

Mollet agreed in 1955 to begin secretly selling high-performance French bombers to [Israel](/places/israel/), with sales arranged by [Shimon Peres](/people/shimon-peres/) directly between defense ministries, bypassing diplomatic channels. Arms continued to flow from [France](/places/france/) to [Israel](/places/israel/) for the next twelve years.[^1]

Mollet was deeply involved in the secret planning for the [Suez Crisis](/events/suez-crisis/) in 1956, alongside [Israel](/places/israel/) and Britain. After the British and French ceased fire under pressure from the [United States](/places/united-states/) and the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/), Mollet felt a sense of guilt and shame for [France](/places/france/)'s failure to uphold its commitments to [Israel](/places/israel/). This led him to agree to help [Israel](/places/israel/) build a nuclear reactor and chemical reprocessing plant, a deal he reportedly felt he "owed" to them. He also formally cleared the way for the French nuclear weapons program by establishing a committee on the military use of atomic energy.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.