Israeli Defense Minister Shimon Peres said here yesterday that President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was “probably gathering information of his own making” when he claimed last week to have intelligence reports that Israel had developed tactical atomic weapons. The Sadat statement was “not a real description of the Israeli situation” because “Israel does not have tactical atomic weapons,” Peres said at a press conference at the Israeli Embassy.
Peres, who is here to negotiate on an Israeli request for $1,5 billion in arms annually over the next five years, declined to say whether or not Israel had a plant to process plutonium for atomic weapons. Asked whether Israel had such a plant, Peres replied. “To the best of my knowledge, Israel is just in the scientific part of this program.” He said Israel was prepared to accept international controls over the nuclear technology offered to her and Egypt.
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