---
born: 1898-07-29
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 1988-01-11
location: Rymanów, Galicia (Austria-Hungary)
summary: American physicist and Nobel laureate who visited Israel's Dimona reactor
  in 1961 and reported no evidence of a weapons facility.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Physicist
- Israel
---

I. I. Rabi was an American physicist and Nobel laureate. He, along with [Eugene Wigner](/people/eugene-wigner/), was asked by the Israelis to visit the still-incomplete reactor at [Dimona](/places/dimona/) sometime early in 1961. They reported seeing no evidence of a weapons facility, and President [John F. Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/) expressed satisfaction with their conviction that the reactor was designed for peaceful purposes.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 8.