The Israeli Ynet news website published documents which showed that the US government estimated that Israel was misleading it and acting to acquire nuclear armaments.
The documents show that the US actually knew of Israel’s nuclear intentions as early as 1961.
In 1961, a classified CIA report estimated that Israel will be able to produce a nuclear bomb by 1965-66, since it had enough plutonium to produce it.
The Ynet news website reported that the Americans estimated at early stages after the work started in Dimona reactor that Israel was misleading the United States and acting to acquire nuclear armaments.
Ynet added that a national intelligence assessment released published on September 21, 1961 revealed information about the Dimona reactor, that was less than a year after the former Israeli Foreign Minister David Ben-Gurion declared that the reactor was “intended for peaceful purposes”.
The US, and despite the Israeli announcement, saw the growing Israeli nuclear program in a different way than what was presented by Ben-Gurion; the CIA was convinced at the time, that Israel and France made a decision to go to nuclear.
According to the Ynet, the then US-president John F. Kennedy sent inspectors to the Dimona reactor, but they reported that there were no clear signs on the ground of a nuclear arms program.
Meanwhile, the recently declassified revealed documents showed that the US government had significant evidence which indicated that Israel was pursuing a nuclear path to produce nuclear weapons.
The document estimated that Israel would likely be able to produce a nuclear weapon if it sets up a plutonium-producing facility, and that it possessed a French-made bomber which is able to carry nuclear weapons to a 550-mile range.
Recently, an Israeli source reported that the Dimona reactor is becoming a threat to the area, especially after it started to crack in some areas, especially in the internal fuel chamber.
Former MK member Uzi Evin, Meterz party, said that there is continuous maintenance to the reactor, and there are equipments which can be replaced, but there are two things which can’t be maintained or replaced; the cement which was placed as one unit in the chambers, and the special rails of fuel bars which are directly affected by time.
Evin, who is a professor in Chemistry, worked at the reactor until 1968, then moved to the Scientific Communication Department, which is a secret facility which works in order to prevent any leakage of information regarding the secrets of the reactor, and responsible of purchasing any needed equipment.
Evin believes that the reactor should be shut down as a result of the threats it poses in the area.ÂÂ
In 1960, Israel received a gift from the United States; the Dimona nuclear reactor, it was part of a project known as “Atom for Peace”, several recent reports warned of the threats the reactors is posing in the area.
