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

Joseph O. Zurhellen, Jr. was the replacement for [[William N. Dale]] as deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in [[Tel Aviv]]. He followed Ambassador [[Walworth Barbour]]'s cue and was much less interested in [[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]] had been deliberately fostered by [[Israel]] as "disinformation."[^1]

### Footnotes

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