Location of the Osirak nuclear reactor within Iraq
Operation Opera (Hebrew: מִבְצָע אוֹפֵּרָה),[1] also known as Operation Babylon,[2] was a surprise airstrike conducted by the Israeli Air Force on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor located 17 kilometres (11 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.[3][4][5] The Israeli operation came a year after the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force had caused minor damage to the same nuclear facility in Operation Scorch Sword, with the damage having been subsequently repaired by French technicians. Operation Opera, and related Israeli government statements following it, established the Begin Doctrine, which explicitly stated the strike was not an anomaly, but instead "a precedent for every future government in Israel". Israel's counter-proliferation preventive strike added another dimension to its existing policy of deliberate ambiguity, as it related to the nuclear weapons capability of other states in the region.[6]
In 1976, Iraq purchased an Osiris-class nuclear reactor from France.[7][8] While Iraq and France maintained that the reactor, named Osirak by the French, was intended for peaceful scientific research,[9] the Israelis viewed the reactor with suspicion, believing it was designed to produce nuclear weapons that could escalate the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict.[3] On 7 June 1981, a flight of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As, bombed the Osirak reactor deep inside Iraq.[10] Israel called the operation an act of self-defense, saying that the reactor had "less than a month to go" before "it might have become critical."[11] The airstrike reportedly killed ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian.[12] The attack took place about three weeks before the 1981 Israeli legislative elections for the Knesset.[13]
At the time of its occurrence, the attack was met with sharp international criticism, including in the United States, and Israel was rebuked by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in two separate resolutions.[14][15] Media reactions were also negative: "Israel's sneak attack ... was an act of inexcusable and short-sighted aggression",[16] wrote The New York Times, while the Los Angeles Times called it "state-sponsored terrorism".[14][better source needed] The destruction of Iraq's Osirak reactor has been cited as an example of a preventive strike in contemporary scholarship on international law.[17][18] The efficacy of the attack is debated by historians,[19] who acknowledge that it brought Iraq back from the brink of nuclear capability but drove its weapons program underground and cemented Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's future ambitions for acquiring nuclear weapons.
^Perlmutter, p. 172.
^Amos Perlmutter, Michael I. Handel, Uri Bar-Joseph. Two Minutes over Baghdad. Routledge (2nd ed.), 2008. p. 120.
^ ab"1981: Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 June 1981. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
^Donald Neff (1995). "Israel Bombs Iraq's Osirak Nuclear Research Facility". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Andrew I. Kilgore: 81–82. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
^Cite error: The named reference fainberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Country Profiles -Israel Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) updated May 2014
^Ramberg, Bennett. Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy: An Unrecognized Military Peril. University of California Press, 1985. p. xvii.
^Cordesman, Anthony H. Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Praeger, 1999. p. 605.
^Cite error: The named reference worldbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Shirley V. Scott, Anthony Billingsley, Christopher Michaelsen. International Law and the Use of Force: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Praeger, 2009. p. 182.
^Scott, p. 132.
^Polakow-Suransky, Sasha. The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa. Pantheon (1 ed.), 2010. p. 145.
^Cite error: The named reference perryIQP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abJonathan Steele (7 June 2002). "The Bush doctrine makes nonsense of the UN charter". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
^Cite error: The named reference scres was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Israel's Illusion". Opinion. The New York Times. 9 June 1981. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
^Shue, Henry and Rhodin, David (2007). Preemption: Military Action and Moral Justification. Oxford University Press. p. 215.
^Cite error: The named reference council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Osirak: Threats real and imagined". 5 June 2006.
OperationOpera (Hebrew: מִבְצָע אוֹפֵּרָה), also known as Operation Babylon, was a surprise airstrike conducted by the Israeli Air Force on 7 June 1981...
carried out OperationOpera to destroy the Iraqi nuclear facilities at Osiraq. On June 9, 1982, the Israeli Air Force carried out Operation Mole Cricket...
a second airstrike conducted by Israel on 7 June 1981, codenamed OperationOpera, completely destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in a substantial setback...
were designed to implicate the Croatian President. Operation Labrador was complemented by OperationOpera — a propaganda campaign devised by the KOS to feed...
their own nuclear weapons. The Israeli Air Force conducted OperationOpera and Operation Orchard, destroying the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors in...
F-16 Squadron. In 1981, Ramon was the youngest pilot taking part in OperationOpera, Israel's strike against Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor....
Operation Babylon may refer to: An alternative name for OperationOpera, an Israeli bombing raid on Iraqi nuclear installations A 2015 Italian raid on...
1981, following Israel's attack on Iraq's nuclear reactor Osirak in OperationOpera. The doctrine remains a feature of Israeli security planning. The initial...
F-16 Fighting Falcon in fighting over Lebanon, and participated in OperationOpera, the 1981 raid that destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor. Born in Jerusalem...
of the Israeli Air Force, tail number 107. Netz 107 participated in OperationOpera, bombing the Osiraq nuclear reactor, and was later credited with 6...
Force participated in Operation Litani. On June 7, 1981, eight IAF F-16A fighters escorted by six F-15A jets carried out OperationOpera to destroy the Iraqi...
the operation was called off due to weather conditions. By the time the weather cleared, the IAF was preoccupied with preparations for OperationOpera. Meanwhile...
Fighting Falcon and was among the eight pilots selected to carry out OperationOpera against Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981. A year later, Yadlin...
to complete the mission without suffering any losses. Operation Entebbe OperationOperaOperation Outside the Box Bergman, Ronen: Rise and Kill First,...
supports neo-fascism in Croatia". During the notorious false-flag OperationOpera Orientalis, which was conducted in 1991 by the Yugoslav Air Force intelligence...
Operation Outside the Box (Hebrew: מבצע מחוץ לקופסה, Mivtza MiHutz LaKufsa), also known as Operation Orchard (Hebrew: מבצע בוסתן, Mivtza Bustan), was an...
As commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) he played a key role in OperationOpera, the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor located 990 miles from...
forces from the territory. Misgav Am (1980) – Kibbutz hostages rescue. OperationOpera (1981) – A surprise Israeli air strike that destroyed the Iraqi nuclear...
The history of the Opera web browser began in 1994 when it was started as a research project at Telenor, the largest Norwegian telecommunications company...
General (1971–2002), and one of eight air force pilots who took part in OperationOpera, the attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. Shafir served as commander...
opposition to abortion. Beginning in 1981 in San Antonio, following OperationOpera, Hagee has organized "A Night to Honor Israel" events aiming to show...
South Africa highly classified information about its missions, such as OperationOpera, which had previously only been reserved for the United States. In...
decided that there will not be another Treblinka". He also justified OperationOpera, the 1981 bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor, by stating that by ordering...
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Israeli Air Force
