A secret nuclear programme deep underground, shielded from American eyes, slowly revealing the secrets of the atom — and disgorging the fuel for an atomic bomb. Enemies closing in, the drumbeats of war growing louder.
And then, on the eve of conflict, a hasty decision to pull together at least one rudimentary nuclear device. If the nation faced annihilation, maybe an atomic explosion — its mushroom cloud seen by the world — could save it?
This was Israel in 1967, when historians now understand that the Jewish state first inched to the edge of the nuclear threshold. It stopped short of the last resort, a demonstration test of a crude bomb, which its unexpected victory in the six day war rendered unnecessary.