Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
When construction began in 1958, Israel told the world Dimona was a textile plant. Behind the desert fencing, it was building a secret nuclear empire.
The skies above Dimona are permanently closed to all aircraft. Even Israeli pilots avoid the zone—no place on Earth is more off-limits.
During U.S. inspections in the ’60s, Israel built fake labs and walled off entire sections of Dimona to keep its weapons program invisible.
Israel has never signed the NPT, and the IAEA has never seen Dimona. It’s the only undeclared nuclear arsenal in the Middle East—and it’s hidden in plain sight.
Representative pic
From underground labs to plutonium reprocessing plants, whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu’s leaked photos confirmed what Israel denied for decades.
After exposing Dimona in 1986, Vanunu was kidnapped by Mossad, secretly tried for treason, and locked away for 18 years—11 in solitary.
SIPRI estimates Israel holds around 90 nuclear warheads, but some experts say it could be twice that. No one knows for sure—by design.
Mossad moles, including producer Arnon Milchan, funneled nuclear tech and materials through covert ops spanning France, Germany, the UK, and the U.S.
Israel’s doctrine of “amimut” (opacity) keeps the arsenal unofficial. It deters enemies without triggering treaties, sanctions, or diplomatic showdowns.