When Faith Met Strategy: The Secret Behind Israel's 1981 Reactor Raid

Year: 1981. Location: Shikun Hey, Bnei Brak.

On the eve of Shavuot in 1981, Yechiel Kadishai received an urgent phone call. On the line was the aide of Rabbi Moshe Mordechai of Lelov, asking him to urgently come to see the Rebbe. The home of the Rebbe was a familiar place to Kadishai. His father, R' Velvel Kadishzon, had been the Rebbe's aide and trusted right-hand man during their time in Tel Aviv. While Kadishai had since altered his name and attire, and no longer lived a Hasidic life, he still held a warm corner in his heart for his father's home and admired the Rebbe deeply.

Hastening to the Rebbe, Kadishai was given an urgent directive: "Go to the Prime Minister," the Rebbe's aide relayed, "and tell him not to fear taking action. Hashem will help him and everything will proceed in the best possible way." Kadishai didn't understand the matter at hand but trusted the Rebbe's authority and proceeded to his boss. The Prime Minister was shocked: "How does the Rebbe know?" he asked Kadishai, who still didn't grasp the context.

Days later, all of Israel became aware of the mission: Menachem Begin had instructed the Air Force to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor and the operation was a success. One question still lingered for Kadishai, Begin's trusted confidant and chief of staff: "How did the Rebbe of Lelov know?"

Now an elder at 90, devoted to preserving Begin's legacy and a symbolic figure in the Likud movement, Kadishai speaks to 'B'kehillah' about the enigmatic mystery: "I had no clue. It seemed a vague and utterly incomprehensible statement to me. What does 'Everything will be fine, everything will conclude in the best manner' mean? I didn’t understand why a message so urgent was meant for the Prime Minister at that moment."

Did Begin share the secret with you?

"There are things he shared and things he didn't. Regarding this, I knew nothing. Begin kept the decision to strike the nuclear reactor entirely confidential. Except for those who absolutely needed to know, nobody else knew."

He recalls the Prime Minister before the action: "Begin was someone who wasn't tense, or at least didn’t show signs of stress. Don't forget, this was the man who had been the commander of Etzel, facing tough decisions under challenging conditions. In any case, when I look back on the day before the reactor bombing, I don't recall any extraordinary tension in Menachem Begin while awaiting the operation."

Kadishai wasn't near the Prime Minister during the attack. He was sent to Sharm El-Sheikh, and thus, amongst other reasons, didn’t know it was planned nor understood the Rebbe's words. Only afterward, along with the whole nation, did he learn of the attack, and his joy was compounded by the prophetic words of the Lelov Rebbe.

At that time, opinions about the operation were not unanimous—many were quick to condemn it and saw Begin’s move as unnecessary provocation that could lead to escalation, or simply unnecessary, as Saddam would quickly rebuild new reactors. Only over the years did most involved come to agree that the operation was essential and beneficial for the region: nuclear weapons in the hands of an extreme and rash tyrant would have worsened the situation. The reactors were not rebuilt, and Saddam's regime continued to crumble until its eventual downfall.

The State of Israel, recently at another crossroads with a rapidly arming nation, definitely needed once more a guiding hand, someone who could see all the factors and make the decision.

The followers of Lelov are convinced this was foresighted vision. Numerous stories exist of the Rebbe’s sanctity, approaching his followers and instructing them "Do this and that," during times of stress and difficult decisions, and his astonished followers would follow him and witness miracles. A Lelov follower even teases Kadishai: "As a descendant of an important Hasidic family, he should know that with the Rebbe, these things happen every day."

The Rebbe's followers continue to recount the heavy burden that the Lelov Rebbe took upon himself that year. During Shavuot, his vision had already dimmed, and he admitted to his close ones that he took on too much, and after a few weeks, they share sorrowfully, the Rebbe fell ill and lost consciousness after suffering a severe stroke. Some among the followers interpreted the tremendous burden he took upon himself as being that fateful and surprising message he delivered to the Prime Minister’s secretary days earlier.