Iran’s precision missile strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science has devastated one of Israel’s most critical military-scientific hubs, delivering a staggering blow to the regime’s defense R&D infrastructure and igniting fresh controversy over the institute’s longstanding military affiliations.
According to Saed News, Iran’s recent retaliatory missile strike has reduced Israel’s prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, near Tel Aviv, to a charred shadow of its former self. The attack, carried out with exceptional precision, destroyed key research facilities and crippled what many regarded as the intellectual backbone of the Israeli military-industrial complex.
Alon Chen, the institute’s president, admitted on Israel’s Channel 13 that the missiles struck “the heart of the institute” with devastating accuracy, contradicting early attempts by Israeli officials to downplay the damage. He estimated the financial cost between $300 million and $570 million, though the true loss, he said, lies in the obliteration of decades of irreplaceable research.
Among the wreckage was a newly built chemistry lab, expected to open this year, and a life sciences complex that housed groundbreaking cancer and regenerative medicine projects. The lab of Professor Eldad Tzahor, a leading researcher in cardiac regeneration, was completely annihilated. “Three entire floors collapsed. Nothing is left—no data, no images, no notes, no history,” Tzahor lamented.
Roughly 45 laboratories were impacted, disrupting the work of up to 500 researchers across disciplines like molecular biology and neurobiology. Shockwaves from nearby strikes also rendered the planetary sciences building largely unusable. As many as 90 percent of the institute’s structures sustained some degree of damage, with extensive destruction to infrastructure, laboratory equipment, and shared scientific resources.
While the Weizmann Institute publicly maintains a civilian profile, its military entanglements are well documented. It has partnered with defense giants like Elbit Systems and contributed to programs including AI, drone technology, and alternative GPS systems. It is also known to collaborate with the Israeli War Ministry and has ties to elite military units such as Unit 8200 and the Talpiot program.
Historically, the institute has been at the core of Israel’s war machinery. During the 1948 Nakba, it provided facilities and manpower to the Haganah, producing explosives and chemical weapons. It became a pillar of the Israeli Military Science Corps, with its scientists playing leading roles in the formation of Israel’s military-industrial complex. Ernst David Bergmann, a Weizmann founder, later headed the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and masterminded the country's illegal nuclear program. The institute trained many who would go on to work at Dimona, the hub of Israel’s nuclear weapons development.
Despite this track record, Israeli officials quickly recast the Weizmann Institute as a purely civilian target in the aftermath of the June 15 missile strike, seeking to frame the attack as a violation of international norms. However, emerging satellite imagery, leaked footage, and internal reports suggest the Iranian strike was meticulously calculated and deeply informed—a direct retaliation for Israeli attacks on Iranian civilian and scientific assets.
The scale of damage, both physical and symbolic, underscores the vulnerability of Israel’s scientific-military nexus and reveals just how deeply embedded the Weizmann Institute has been in the architecture of modern warfare.
