---
category: Private Organization
location: Rehovot, Israel
start: 1934
summary: The Weizmann Institute of Science is Israel's preeminent research institution,
  whose chemistry and isotope research divisions, directed by Ernst David Bergmann
  after 1948, provided a scientific foundation for Israel's nuclear weapons program.
tags:
- Organization
- Research
- Israel
---

The Weizmann Institute of Science is a preeminent research facility in [Israel](/places/israel/). After [Israel](/places/israel/)'s successful War of Independence in 1948, [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/) became the director of its chemistry division. In 1949, a department of isotope research was established at the Institute, and young Israeli scientists were sent abroad to study nuclear energy and chemistry. A joint research program was also initiated with the nascent French Atomic Energy Commission.[^1]

By 1953, researchers at Weizmann had pioneered a new process for creating heavy water and a more efficient means of extracting uranium from phosphate fields. These concepts were later sold to the French, leading to a formal agreement for cooperation in nuclear research between the two nations.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2.