Israel’s nuclear reactor near Dimona. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israel’s Knesset overwhelmingly rejected a bill which would place Israel’s alleged nuclear facility in Dimona under international supervision.

Only members of the Arab-dominated Joint List voted for the bill, which was proposed by party member, MK Jamal Zahalka, and failed by a vote of 73 to 8.

According to Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, Zahalka attempted to push through the legislation by calling the alleged reactor old and outdated, and arguing that its potential vulnerability to earthquakes meant it should receive international oversight.

Steinitz argued that the plant has been upgraded several times since the 1990s, and called the bill “a joke.”

The presence of a nuclear reactor or a nuclear arsenal in Israel has never been officially confirmed or denied. Israel is not a member of international nonproliferation treaties. In 1986, Dimona technician Mordechai Vanunu was arrested and jailed for leaking information about the facility to a reporter at the UK’s Sunday Times.

Analysts used information from the interview to surmise that Israel possesses as many as 200 atomic warheads.

Israel has been vehemently opposed to the development of nuclear weapons by Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and has been linked to numerous attacks on operations associated with atomic development in those countries.