J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a prominent American theoretical physicist, widely known as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project during World War II. He and his colleagues, including John von Neumann, were actively courted by Chaim Weizmann as early as 1947 to spend time doing research in Israel.¹

Oppenheimer's personal papers indicate he visited Israel in May 1958 to participate in ceremonies marking the opening of the Institute of Nuclear Science in Rehovot. He also took a military flight with Ernst David Bergmann and Shimon Peres to visit the port city of Eilat at the southern reach of the Negev desert. However, Israeli officials who worked at Dimona in 1958, then in its early stages of construction, do not recall any visit by Oppenheimer to that site.¹

Oppenheimer sparked controversy in the early 1950s by advocating that the United States abate the arms race by forgoing the hydrogen bomb. In 1954, Lewis L. Strauss led a successful effort to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance, with hearings focusing on Oppenheimer's loyalty and integrity.¹