In the following special interview, Mr. Begin elaborated on the reasons that led Israel to destroy the Iraqi nuclear plant. The timing, before the plant became "hot" was crucial. Israel could not afford to take chances in view of the hostile position of Iraq to Israel since 1948 and the fear that Iraq would have no qualms in dropping nuclear bombs on Israel. The Prime Minister confirmed that he had not consulted in advance with the Labor Party opposition leaders, nor had he Reagan and Sadat in advance of the raid He was willing to take chances on adverse international public opinion. Text:
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, when was the decision taken to attack the reactor in Iraq?
A: The decision to bomb Iraqs atomic reactor, which was designed to manufacture atomic bombs, was taken many months ago. But there were obstacles, and various considerations as well, and there were several postponements. Until we reached the situation where it was clear to us that if we did not act now, then we might be too late. That is to say, according to our reliable information, that in either July or September it would be, as they say, "hot". Under such conditions no government of Israel could - and our government would not have decided to bomb the reactor, because it would have been blown open and deadly radioactive fallout would have covered the city of Baghdad, and harmed tens of thousands perhaps even hundreds of thousands - of innocent men, women and children. We, as Jews, would never, under any circumstances have taken such a decision. Given the conditions as I have described them, that means, it was a matter of either a month, six weeks, or three months. What is the difference. And then we would have to stand from afar, passively, and know that atomic bombs of the type that were dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War Two, and which harmed hundreds of thousands of people, were being manufactured there. With three, four or five of these atomic bombs, Saddam Hussein - whose cruelty is unparalleled, who himself murdered his best friends in order to take control of Iraq - would not have hesitated to drop these bombs on our population centers, and he could have destroyed our country, certainly its infrastructure and certainly a great deal of its army. After all, he stood at Abadan and declared: this is the beginning of the march to Jaffa and Jerusalem. He goes to Abadan, you understand, and says that this is the beginning of the march to Jaffa. How can he reach Jaffa? He assumed, and this was his ambition, that he would build a reactor, he would develop an atomic bomb, and he would either destroy Israel by means of the atomic bomb or he would threaten us and demand that we surrender. So this action was actually one that saved the lives of I don't know how many. I have lived this problem for two years already, and I want to tell the people of Israel: May none of you ever know such an experience in your life. Sometimes I would go out and meet groups of children. They would make a circle around me, I would banter with them, they would ask me questions - and then it would occur to me: My God, what will happen to these children? They are now seven or eight years old, when they are ten or twelve years old the atomic bomb might be dropped on them. What would happen to them? And I don't deny it: there were many difficulties and very serious doubts among my colleagues, until we took the decision with absolute determination. We do not fear any world reaction. I say this in all sincerity. Last night I informed the American Ambassador, and today I sent a letter to President Reagan. The letter is already in the Ambassador's possession, and he is already asking for a meeting with the President in order to deliver the letter. And we will withstand anybody's angry reactions. We had to act here in order to guarantee the survival and well-being of the state of Israel in its homeland.
Q: About reactions: Egypt has already called Israel's bombing of the reactor a serious crime. At your meeting with President Sadat ... did you hint at this possibility?
Are you not afraid that the Israeli bombing may damage relations between the two nations? A: General Ali, not Egypt, made this declaration, and according to my experience I want to tell you: Make a distinction between an authorized Egyptian announcement, i.e., one that comes directly from President Sadat, and statements made by his advisors. It may well turn out in the next few days that perhaps Egypt will have a different position. Perhaps, I don't know.
But you asked a question, and it is up to me to answer. I did not say a thing to President Sadat. And he did not know a thing about this action or its date. It was forbidden to tell him. It was a military secret of the utmost classification. Thank God there was no leak. Thus it seems-strange to me, it even sounds strange in my ears, the complaint of some people in the opposition: why didn't I come to the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, and tell about this action from the start? Has such a thing ever happened in any country? 22 Knesset members, who are so used to leaking, it's as if it was their occupation. To reveal such a secret? So, President Sadat did not know anything. And I did know, correct. What connection does this have? We had many things to 'Settle, and we settled them, and this is the regular peace process that will certainly continue.
And if the Americans today say that they did not know from the start, I confirm this. I did not tell them anything. After the fact, last night, after the boys had already returned home, I asked to get in touch by phone with U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Sam Lewis, and I told him: "I hereby inform you that our air force has destroyed the "Ossirac" atomic reactor near Baghdad, and all these wonderful boys, to whom the people of Israel owe an incalculable debt, returned safely to their bases."
Q: Perhaps we can, with your permission, go back to the "process of deliberation". A number of months ago, French experts published a study that appeared in the newspaper, "Le Monde", which determined that the nuclear reactor in Iraq is intended for research purposes, and has no military aims.
A: A totally unreliable report. We had information from very reliable sources. For two years we have made many efforts so that France would pull out of the whole matter. But she did not pull out. The French experts fled-after the Iranian bombing of the reactor, but they returned. Then we had to rely on the information in our hands. And we had information that this reactor was designed for the development of nuclear weapons or atom bombs that would be directed against the State of Israel and its population.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, when you were about to take this decision, together with your colleagues, did you take into account the possible results, for example, from the point of view of the Arab world, that this is liable to bring about a unification of the Arab world, which is liable to bring about extreme action by Baghdad against Israel?
A: I already said something about the reactions: I must concern myself with the people of Israel, with the sons of Israel, the daughters of Israel, the women of Israel, the citizens of Israel - and everything else is peripheral. We weighed all the considerations. The decisive consideration (is) to ensure the well-being and the future of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel. And thus, whoever wants to be clever and to present me with questions concerning Iraq and concerning Arab sorts of things like that, there is no end to these questions. There are people in the government who know the contents of the questions no less than the honorable questioners. But there is no value to this and no significance. We had to take care that the people of Israel will live in the land of Israel. Their lives were in real danger - not immediate but a people does not live on borrowed time of three or four years, and, as I said before, if the reactor had begun to operate and were "hot", we would not have been able to touch it. And thus this was the very last hour for action.
Q: Why did Israel make the first announcement about the bombing of the reactor?
A: Look, why don't you ask whether Israel announced first? You're trying to establish a fact that has no basis whatever. At 2:30 1 received a telephone call from my military secretary, and he told me that at two o'clock Radio Amman announced that Israeli planes had bombed the "Ossirac" reactor near Baghdad. Then I gave the order to convey the government's announcement for publication - after Jordan, and not before. We kept quiet for nearly 24 hours. As long as there was no publicity, we too did not publicize. and we could have waited another night too. But if Amman reports the announcement, then we must report the announcement - lest wicked people precede us and try to circulate lies before we can speak. This happened more than once in the days of the reprisals. We kept silent and all the lies came from the Arab countries, and the state of Israel was later denounced, and the like. We did not have to wait for an additional announcement. Jordan made the announcement at two o'clock. At three I asked for radio publication.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, a final question: did you consult with public figures in Israel or with anyone outside the government on this matter?
A: I did not consult and I had no obligation whatsoever to do so. Several months ago, I told Mr. Shimon Peres about it. He did not express agreement, nor did he express opposition. He received this news for his information, about three or four weeks ago; I received a letter from Mr. Shimon Peres in which he expressed-his opinion that, in his estimation, it is not desirable to carry out this operation. This was his opinion. The government decided differently. The government conducts national affairs, and not Mr. Shimon Peres, and not any other individual in the opposition.
I want here to praise the marvelous reaction of Yitzhak Rabin. He did not get involved in any criticism, he did not get involved in any silly accusations. He said, congratulations to the air force, they did a daring deed. And I want to conclude the interview with you with these words: There have never been such youth as our pilots. The famous saying of Churchill - we are not in a situation like after Dunkirk, we are very strong, thank God - but his saying that these are a few to whom the many owe so much, now applies to the Israeli Air Force. There are none like them, more power to them. How did the chief-of-staff put it this morning? The execution was 100 percent and not even one percent less.