Declassified documents reveal when US learned Israel was inching toward nuclear bomb ynetnews com article s1emiblbyx Saar Haas December 18 2024 Newly declassified U S documents uncovered when Washington first realized Israel was developing nuclear weapons — and when they assessed Israel was 6-8 weeks away from completing a nuclear bomb The documents are published against the backdrop of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and IAEA Chair Rafael Grossi's recent remarks that the nuclear deal with Iran is no longer relevant and that Iran is enriching uranium to a military-grade and is rapidly nearing the position of a nuclear state ” Dimona nuclear reactor in August 1960 in photo taken by US 1 6 Dimona nuclear reactor in November 1960 One of the declassified documents is a December 1960 report by the U S Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee JAEIC According to researcher William Burr and Prof Avner Cohen this was the first American report to definitively state that the Dimona reactor would include a plutonium production facility tied to weapon development Subsequent American reports treated the issue as unresolved until the late 1960s by which time Israel had reached the brink of military nuclear capability This culminated in a bilateral secret deal between President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Golda Meir whereby Israel would hold undeclared nuclear weapons status ” Another declassified intelligence document revealed that in February 1967 several Israeli sources informed the U S Embassy that Israel either has or is about to complete the Dimona plutonium extraction plant and that the Dimona reactor has been operated at full capacity The U S concluded that Israel was 6-8 weeks away from a bomb at that time The document also mentioned for the first time the possibility that Israel was systematically deceiving the United States about Dimona This was later hinted at in an Israeli series on the atom which featured conversations with Benjamin Blumberg founder of the Lekem intelligence agency and dubbed the driving force behind the Dimona reactor who died six years ago 2 6 US files on Dimona nuclear reactor 3 6 In December 1960 the same month the U S first assessed that Israel was advancing toward nuclear capability other documents surfaced about the construction of the Dimona reactor initially described as located in or near Be’er Sheva Then-Prime Minister David BenGurion first addressed the issue in a Knesset speech saying that Israel built the reactor for “research for peaceful purposes ” Ben-Gurion was incensed by statements from U S officials in the press claiming Israel had not informed Washington about Dimona He summoned U S Ambassador Ogden Reid to his residence in Sde Boker According to a document detailing that meeting Ben-Gurion sought to answer the question of whether Israel had any plans to develop nuclear weapons emphatically saying Absolutely not adding that Israel had no such intentions The document further recounts how Ben-Gurion praised the greatness of America calling it a refuge for tens of millions of people of Europe and perhaps the most prosperous nation of all 4 6 5 6 He added Your people conduct a bitter war to abolish African slavery that you saved Europe twice from the Germans However Ben-Gurion then launched a pointed critique We are equals of America in terms of moral respect We didn't deserve it and we will not accept such treatment While 20 documents on Dimona and Israel’s nuclear program have been declassified many others remain sealed For example a 1976 American document concerning Dimona was entirely redacted by the CIA and remains classified nearly 50 years later 6 6