---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: Lieutenant General told point-blank by Israeli Chief of Staff David Elazar
  about Israel's nuclear threat during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Orwin C. Talbott was a Lieutenant General and deputy commander of the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). In early 1974, Talbott visited [Israel](/places/israel/) to discuss lessons learned from the 1973 [Yom Kippur War](/events/yom-kippur-war/). During a meeting with [David Elazar](/people/david-elazar/), then Israeli Chief of Staff, Elazar suddenly began talking "out of the blue" about [Israel](/places/israel/)'s threat to use nuclear weapons in the desperate moments of the 1973 war. Talbott understood the significance of this information and quickly filed a top-secret one-page memorandum for General Creighton W. Abrams, the Army chief of staff, believing Elazar was trying to send a message to [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.