The area it photographed, located west of Beit Shemesh, appears on ordinary Israeli maps as open space and on civilian flight maps as an off-limits area. But according to numerous foreign reports, this area is home to the Kanaf 2 Israel Air Force base. The website of GlobalSecurity.org says that three squadrons of Jericho surface-to-surface missiles are stationed at this base.
Archiv: Dimona (Israel / nuclear weapons program site)
The Battle of the Letters, 1963: John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and the U.S. Inspections of Dimona
Washington D.C., May 2, 2019 – During 1963, President John F. Kennedy was preoccupied with issues such as Vietnam, the nuclear test ban negotiations, civil rights protests, and Cuba. It is less well known, however, that one of his most abiding concerns was whether and how fast Israel was seeking a nuclear weapons capability and what the U.S. should do about it. Beginning in April 1963, Kennedy insisted that the Israeli leadership accept regular bi-annual U.S. inspections, or in diplomatic language, “visits,” of Israel’s nuclear complex at Dimona in the Negev Desert. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his successor, Levi Eshkol, tried to evade and avoid inspections, but Kennedy applied unprecedented pressure, informing them bluntly, in a near ultimatum tone, that Washington’s “commitment to and support of Israel “could be “seriously jeopardized” if it was thought that the U.S. government could not obtain “reliable information” on the Dimona reactor and Israel’s nuclear intentions.
How a Standoff With the U.S. Almost Blew Up Israel‘s Nuclear Program
Throughout the spring and summer of 1963, the leaders of the United States and Israel – President John F. Kennedy and Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion and Levi Eshkol – were engaged in a high-stakes battle of wills over Israel’s nuclear program. The tensions were invisible to the publics of both countries, and only a few senior officials, on both sides of the ocean, were aware of the severity of the situation
Dimona Geheime Kommandosache
Am 13. Dezember 1960 alarmierte die „Time“ die Weltöffentlichkeit: Israel baue heimlich an der Atombombe. Wie war dem jungen Staat der Bau einer Atombombe gelungen? Die Aufregung war groß, niemand wollte etwas gewusst haben. Auch die erst drei Jahre zuvor gegründete Internationale Atomenergie-Organisation hüllte sich in Schweigen. Das tut sie bis heute. Systematisch wurden die Öffentlichkeit und die Parlamente belogen. Die Wahrheit ist: Schon 1960 wussten die westlichen Regierungen Bescheid. Sie hatten den Bau abgenickt und unterstützt. Die israelischen Atombombe war mit deutschem Geld und deutscher Technologie entstanden, einer Technologie, die im Auftrag des Führers am Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut entwickelt und patentiert worden war.
The Weak are Slaughtered, the Strong Prevail: Netanyahu Says Israel Will Not Shy Away From Conflict
(31.8.2018) It is significant that Netanyahu made the fiery remarks at the country’s top-secret nuclear research facility. Israel is the only state in the Middle East to possess nuclear weapons, though its policy of “strategic ambiguity” makes it difficult to say how large its atomic armory is. Estimates reach as high as 400 nuclear warheads.