A group of intellectuals and prominent Israeli scientists, two of whom worked at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission but resigned in 1957, established the Committee for the Denuclearization of the Middle East.

With the ongoing debate within Israel about whether the state should develop nuclear weapons, the committee called on the Government of Israel to propose an international political initiative for the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East in order to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missiles in the region.

This proposal, however, did not receive serious attention either inside Israel or from its neighbours. In a press conference, the committee issued a statement on 12 October 1962 that nuclear weapons proliferation “constitutes a danger to Israel and to peace in the Middle East” and urged Israel to work with the great powers on a UN resolution declaring the Middle East as free of nuclear weapons.

Photo credit: The National Library of Israel/Al HaMishmar

Newspaper clipping of the article published by the group in Al HaMishmar