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Israel is thought to have begun developing nuclear weapons in the 1960s, allegedly in co-operation with South Africa. According to some estimates, Israel could very rapidly make over 100 nuclear warheads operational. Israel maintains that it will not be the first state in the region to introduce nuclear weapons. This is usually taken to mean that weapons are held one step short of final assembly. The military nuclear programme is centred on the Dimona nuclear research center in the Negev desert.
Resources
- Israel's Nuclear Weapons - A Case Studyby Elizabeth Stevens "In the Negev dessert, construction of a nuclear reactor, Dimona, began. Publicly, it was called a "textile plant." CIA intelligence captured its progress via satellite photography and came to the conclusion that Israel was planning to build a nuclear bomb. In 1962, the reactor went critical, in other words, it was able to sustain a chain reaction. It was also capable of being operated at more than 70 megawatts, thus producing a greater amount of plutonium by-product to be used in their nuclear warheads than would be possible at the officially reported output of 24 megawatts. ... Analysis of Israel's nuclear program has been obstructed by the heavy vegetation, unusual in an arid climate, which shields their facilities from view. Nevertheless, Russian and French satellite pictures produced over the last five years using high resolution imagery lend credence to the conclusion that the weapons are to be used as a last resort. A recently published article describes Israel's nuclear infrastructure using this imagery technology. The report indicates that the strategic weapons are in the Judean foothills, the heart of Israel.... On October 5, 1986, the London Sunday Times published a story which described Israel's nuclear weapons program. It was the first inside account attributable to a publicly named source, Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona. The sensational revelations gave hard evidence, including photos, of Israel's accumulation of 100 to 200 weapons, many more than the 25 that was generally estimated. "
- Israel and Vanunu By Yoel Cohen Eight years after Mordechai Vanunu spilled the beans, Israel still refuses to acknowledge it has the bomb
- MORDECHAI VANUNU - ISRAEL Intelligence, N. 36, 29 April 1996, p. 17 "The Israeli Justice Minister, David Libai, has rejected an appeal from an international delegation, including nuclear scientists, for the release of Mordechai Vanunu. Channel One, in a report on radiation leaks from Dimona which included an interview with a scientist who claimed untreated nuclear waste may be contaminating a huge freshwater reservoir beneath the Negev. The program confirmed what many international observers believe: the Israeli authorities are less concerned with the "secrecy" surrounding Dimona than with "teaching Mr. Vanunu a lesson" "
- Israel denies claim of nuclear hazard NAOMI SEGAL Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM [12 April 1996] -- Israeli Environment Minister Yossi Sarid has rejected claims of a hazard posed by the Dimona nuclear complex in the Negev. Sarid's remarks came in response to claims last week by Egypt and Saudi Arabia regarding a supposed leak from the Dimona nuclear reactor.
- Gaddafi meets Mubarak, defends underground plant CAIRO, May 26 (Reuter) Gaddafi said the United States was using a double standard, complaining about Tarhunah while ignoring the Israeli nuclear reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert, widely believed to be the centre of a nuclear weapons programme. ``America speaks about Tarhunah but not about Dimona. It speaks about Libya making chemical weapons while it knows that the Israelis have chemical and biological weapons and nuclear bombs and it doesn't speak about them at all,'' he said.
- International Vanunu Conference October 26, 1996 ANTIFA INFO - BULLETIN The conference was held October 14 /15, on the tenth anniversary of the forced Mossad kidnapping of Mordechai Vanunu from Rome, and his being secretly tried behind closed doors in Israel and convicted and sentenced to 18 years incarceration for high treason.
- US and Britain's Reactions Following the Exposure of the Israeli Nuclear Reactor in Dimona. Zaki Shalom.
- The Final Option New Clouds Over Israel's Nuclear Program By Shai Feldman
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