Top-Secret IAF WMD Unit Exposed

Top-Secret IAF WMD Unit Exposed

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 11:07 PM PDT

Screenshot from Amuton announcing the reunion of personnel from the IAF’s Unit 155

It’s one thing when a brave whistleblower like Edward Snowden musters the courage to expose some of the most destructive secrets this country owns.  That takes enormous nerve and dedication to principle.  It’s quite another when someone within the belly of the beast spills the beans on secrets which they should know better than to expose.  That’s mere sloppiness.  But regardless of the way the secret is exposed, the exposure itself is worthwhile because it tells us more about the secret life of the national security state: in this case, Israel.
Amuton, the publication of the Israeli Air Force veterans association, listed a series of reunions for  personnel who served in various units.  One in particular (page 4) was striking because, to the knowledge of Israelis I consulted (including this published reference at the Fresh forum), it’s never been mentioned publicly before.  It is Unit 155.  The copy from Amuton says it existed “from 1968-1987.”
A query to a highly-placed Israeli source knowledgeable about military and intelligence matters elicited the news that Unit 155 was “nuclear-related.”  In 1987, it was replaced by a “more modern” unit with a “similar mission.”
So let’s do a little speculating: in 1967, Israel hurriedly produced its first crude nuclear device.  It was meant as a fail-safe weapon that would offer Israel a “last chance” in the event it lost the 1967 War.  Any IAF unit that was nuclear-related and created the year following, in 1968, would have to have involved the delivery of Israel’s nuclear weapons to enemy targets.  Thus, the unit has to have been something like the USAF’s Strategic Air Command.
I want to ask you: if you lived in a real democracy, why would such a country find it necessary to maintain secrecy about a military unit which ceased to exist 25 years before?  Can you imagine, if you’re American, the U.S. trying to keep secret that SAC exists?  Of course, there are many intelligence functions that the U.S. does keep secret as does Israel.  There may or may not be legitimate reasons for doing so.  But a unit the equivalent of SAC seems an awfully big elephant to conceal from an entire country.
I don’t know why the unit was disbanded or what replaced it.