---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: Deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv who dismissed concerns
  about Dimona as Israeli disinformation.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Joseph O. Zurhellen, Jr. was the replacement for [William N. Dale](/people/william-n-dale/) as deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in [Tel Aviv](/places/tel-aviv/). He followed Ambassador [Walworth Barbour](/people/walworth-barbour/)'s cue and was much less interested in [Dimona](/places/dimona/). Zurhellen explained that Barbour was not well versed in technical matters and that the embassy's view was that much of the international concern about [Dimona](/places/dimona/) had been deliberately fostered by [Israel](/places/israel/) as "disinformation."[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.