Israel and the Bomb

On 21 May the concerns over Dimona were raised in a meeting of the Defense Ministerial Committee. Eshkol expressed his fear that perhaps the Egyptian intent was to attack Dimona: “In my opinion, the Egyptians would act to stop Israeli shipping through the [Tiran] straits, and would bomb the Dimona reactor. A full military assault could follow.”55 B

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On the evening of 17 May, General Aharon Yariv, the head of the Intelligence Branch, altered the basic assessment he had provided during the previous two days: Egypt’s intentions were no longer benign, they appeared to be aggressive.52 That night Eshkol and Rabin decided to call up tens of thousands of additional reserves. By late that evening Eshk

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In May 1967, unlike in 1960, Dimona was an important indicator for both sides. If Egypt intended to provoke hostilities with Israel, Dimona would be a most attractive target. For Israel, an aerial attack against Dimona would be a reason to go to war. Shortly before the Six-Day War, Yigal Allon, then a member of the Defense Ministerial Committee, up

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