---
born: 1925-05-14
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 2006-04-26
location: Tel Aviv
summary: Yuval Neeman was an Israeli physicist and defense ministry intelligence officer.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Physicist
- Israel
---

Yuval Neeman was an Israeli physicist and defense ministry intelligence officer. He was directly involved in [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear weapons program. Neeman was responsible for drafting [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/)'s responses to [John F. Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/)'s increasingly sour correspondence regarding [Dimona](/places/dimona/). Neeman described the exchange as "not a friendly exchange" and that Kennedy was "writing like a bully. It was brutal."[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 9.