Iran targets Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility. Curiously, this very facility eluded US intelligence for some time after the illegal creation of the state of Israel in 1958. It took the keen eye of a University of Michigan professor in December 1960 to finally uncover Dimona’s existence.
Iran missile strike
On October 1, 2024, Iran fired approximately 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, escalating the already volatile situation in the Middle East. The attack came days after Israel killed the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah and deployed troops to Lebanon. Among the targets of Iran’s missile barrage was the Israeli nuclear facility at Dimona – a site coveted by the Iranian military.
The Dimona nuclear facility has long been the primary target of Iran’s long-range strike ambitions. Several videos emerged showing rockets landing in desert areas, likely aimed at Dimona, though they failed to cause significant damage.
On October 1, 2024, Israel said a coordinated effort between Iron Dome’s anti-missile systems and the US military meant the strikes failed to cause significant damage. The Israeli prime minister condemned the attack, saying Iran had made a “serious mistake” and vowing that Iran “will pay for it.”
The Riddle of Dimona
The Dimona nuclear facility has long been a highly sensitive and strategically important target, though it remains largely out of the public eye.
Construction on the site began in 1958, but it wasn’t until December 1960 that US intelligence “discovered” Dimona as a nuclear facility, thanks to the insights of Professor Henry Gomberg of the University of Michigan. While visiting Israel as a consultant to the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), Henry Gomberg realized that Israel had developed a large-scale, classified nuclear project in addition to its publicly acknowledged Soreq nuclear project.
Henry Gomberg reported his findings to the US Ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ogden Reid, and to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in Paris, eventually leading US intelligence to apologize. His testimony, along with other information, led the CIA to distribute its findings to various US government agencies, including the White House, the State Department, and Congress, in early December 1960, confirming the existence of the nuclear project and Dimona was revealed.
On December 7, 1960, the US State Department formally addressed the matter by summoning the Israeli Ambassador for an explanation, officially placing Dimona on the diplomatic agenda.
From Israel’s perspective, however, the late discovery was fortunate, as it allowed the project to proceed without direct US political pressure, which could have derailed both the Israeli and French efforts. In response to the intelligence failure, the US Intelligence Board (USIB) requested a detailed “post-mortem” report from the CIA to analyze why Dimona’s development was not recognized sooner. The 17-page report was submitted to President Kennedy on January 31, 1961, just days after he took office.
What do the 2024 figures from the SIPRI report say? – Israel has 90 nuclear warheads
According to a June 2024 SIPRI report, Israel upgraded its nuclear weapons by modernizing production facilities in the south, likely near Dimona.
While Israel has never officially admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, it is widely believed to have around 90 nuclear warheads. SIPRI’s annual report, which looked at developments throughout 2023 and up to January 2024, also claimed there were signs Israel was in the process of upgrading its nuclear reactor in the southern city of Dimona.
Efforts between the US and Iran to reduce tensions have been undone by the war in Gaza and subsequent proxy attacks on US interests by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, SIPRI pointed out.
Israel has maintained a long-standing policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” neither confirming nor denying its nuclear arsenal.
For decades, Israel has said it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. Despite this ambiguity, recent geopolitical developments and conflicts, including the Gaza war and Iranian-backed proxy attacks, have highlighted the importance of Israel’s nuclear deterrent.
However, public comments from officials have hinted at Israel’s nuclear capability. Historically, Israeli officials considered developing nuclear weapons during the 1973 Yom Kippur War following a surprise attack by Egyptian and Syrian forces.
Also in November 2023, Minister of Cultural Heritage Amichai Eliyahu controversially proposed “dropping what amounts to some kind of nuclear bomb on all of Gaza” in response to the October 7 Hamas attack, which killed more than 1,200 civilians.
According to SIPRI, Israel’s nuclear arsenal is capable of being delivered by fighter jets, submarines and land-based Jericho missiles. Specifically, a Hamas rocket attack on October 7 reportedly hit the Sdot Micha airbase, where these Jericho missiles are suspected to be located.
SIPRI’s analysis paints a worrying picture of the global nuclear landscape. The prominence of nuclear weapons in international relations has reached levels not seen since the Cold War era. The Israel-Iran standoff exemplifies this dangerous trend, with the risk of further escalation remaining alarmingly high.
The current crisis has also brought Israel’s nuclear policy into focus. While Israel is deliberately obscuring the recent events have led to unprecedented public debate about Israel’s nuclear capabilities. At the same time Israel is said to want to retaliate by striking Iran’s nuclear facilities and the vicious cycle now begins.
