The Guardian newspaper has published secret South African documents revealing that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the South Africa apartheid regime. In 1975, South Africa’s defense minister, P.W. Botha, asked Israel’s then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres for nuclear warheads. Peres, who is now Israel’s president, responded by offering warheads “in three sizes.” The South African documents show that the apartheid-era military wanted the nuclear missiles as a deterrent and for potential strikes against neighboring African states. South Africa did not go ahead with the nuclear deal in part because of the cost. The documents were first uncovered by Sasha Polakow-Suransky, author of the new book The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa. The documents provide new evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of “ambiguity” in neither confirming nor denying their existence.