---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: Malcolm Toon was the U.S.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Malcolm Toon was the U.S. Ambassador to [Israel](/places/israel/). In 1976, after [Carl E. Duckett](/people/carl-e-duckett/) inadvertently revealed that the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) estimated [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear arsenal to total at least ten warheads, Toon was summoned by [Yigal Allon](/people/yigal-allon/), then Israeli Foreign Minister, to discuss the disclosure. Toon reported that Allon was "very disturbed" and asked rhetorically why the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) had done it. Toon dutifully explained that Duckett's remarks were supposed to have been off-the-record. When Toon asked Allon if Duckett's conclusion was accurate, Allon replied, "It is not true."[^1]

A year later, after [Jimmy Carter](/people/jimmy-carter/)'s election, Toon told a delegation of thirteen visiting American senators that he was sure [Israel](/places/israel/) had the bomb. He complained that it was "indecent for [Israel](/places/israel/) to keep us out of [Dimona](/places/dimona/)," but recalled the bureaucratic response was "Don't stir up the waters."[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 19.