---
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
summary: Max Ben was a Princeton-trained pharmacologist who was helping the Israelis
  set up a pharmacology institute under United Nations auspices.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Max Ben was a Princeton-trained pharmacologist who was helping the Israelis set up a pharmacology institute under [United Nations](/organizations/united-nations/) auspices. He became a close friend and confidant of [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/) while in [Israel](/places/israel/). In 1966, Ben visited [Dimona](/places/dimona/) and was shown the nuclear facilities, leading him to believe that [Israel](/places/israel/) was making nuclear warheads. He reported his findings to [William N. Dale](/people/william-n-dale/), then deputy chief of mission at the American embassy, with the goal of informing [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) about [Dimona](/places/dimona/)'s accomplishments and seeing how the U.S. could assist [Israel](/places/israel/).[^1]

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