---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: Hedrick Smith was a Washington correspondent for the *New York Times*.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Hedrick Smith was a Washington correspondent for the *New York Times*. In July 1970, he wrote a front-page story that provided the American public with its first account of the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)'s assessment of the Israeli nuclear arsenal. The article stated that the U.S. government had been conducting its Middle East policy on the assumption that [Israel](/places/israel/) either possessed an atomic bomb or had component parts available for quick assembly. Smith's story also described [Israel](/places/israel/)'s progress in developing its [Jericho I](/concepts/jericho-i/) missile system and revealed a manufacturing plant near [Tel Aviv](/places/tel-aviv/) for solid propellants and engines.[^1]

Smith had tried for two years to get the article published, and succeeded after [Stuart Symington](/people/stuart-symington/) acknowledged on a Sunday television interview show that there was "no question that [Israel](/places/israel/) is doing its best to develop nuclear weapons." Despite the significance of the article, it attracted little attention from other media or Congress, which astonished Smith.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 16.