Israel's Secret Weapon

Herself - Reporter:
It was the young Shimon Peres, back in the 50s, who negotiated a secret deal with the French to buy a nuclear weapons reactor like theirs. But while Dimona was going up intelligence reports reached Washington that Israel was building an atom bomb.

Herself - Reporter:
Israel's leader, Ben-Gurion, was summoned to Washington. President Kennedy feared an arms race in the Middle east and demanded inspections.

Herself - Reporter:
When inspectors finally entered the plant, in May 1961, they were tricked. They were shown a fake control room at the ground floor. They were unaware of the six floors below, where the Plutonium was made.

Herself - Reporter:
After Kennedy's assassination, the pressure on Israel was off. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, turned a blind eye. Then, in 1969, Israel's Golda Meir and Richard Nixon struck a deal, renewed by every president to this day: Israel's nuclear program can continue as long as it was never made public. It's called "nuclear ambiguity".

Herself - Reporter:
"Ambiguity" is a luxury unique to Israel. Today the country is an inspection-free zone, protected from scrutiny by America and her allies.

Ronen Bergmann:
Ikonos is capable of taking pictures up to the resolution of one meter. However, due to the demand of Israel, the American Congress ruled a new amendment to the law that forbids American satellites to sell anything of Israeli sites that is better than 2 meters, meaning: the Ikonos is taking iamgery of Israel, and then they worsen the resolution down

Herself - Reporter:
40 years old reactors are usually shut dowm. But Dimona grinds on. Dimona's under control of the Prime Minister, beyond the reach of parliament or public scrutiny. And that worries the scientist who worked there once so optimistically.

Uzi Even:
As the reactor gets older, and the tendency for accidents more probable, you should have an outside watchdog... Workers' safety, environmental questions, industrial safety procedures - all are not covered. And there are thousands of people working there!

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Which country in the Middle East has undeclared nuclear weapons ?

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Which country in the Middle East has undeclared biological and chemical capabilities ?

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Which country in the Middle East has no outside inspections ?

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Which country jailed its nuclear whistleblower for 18 years ?

Herself - Reporter:
Meet the Eoloffs. 5 years ago they adopted a man they've never met, who writes to them from a prison cell in Israel.

Mary Eoloff:
[about Mordechai Vanunu] He was buried alive. He was shut up in a 6 by 9 foot cell. No windows, so he couldn't see outside. Even when he exercised, there was a canvas around him when he was out walking.

Nick Eoloff:
He spent more time in isolation in a prison in the western world than any other human being.