Israel Institute for Biological Research

Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) is an Israeli government defense research institute specializing in biology, medicinal chemistry and environmental science. The institute's work is a closely guarded secret. It is suspected of also developing biological and chemical weapons and defenses against them, as well as toxins for use by Israeli intelligence in assassinations. It is located in Ness Ziona, 20 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. IIBR has approximately 350 employees, 150 of whom are scientists.

IIBR is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Office and works in close cooperation with government agencies. IIBR has many public projects on which it works in cooperations with international research organizations (governmental and non-governmental) and universities. Its research findings are often published in national and international scientific publications.

IIBR was founded in 1952 by Professor Ernst David Bergmann, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's science adviser and the head of R&D at the Ministry of Defense. Dr. Alexander Keynan. Keynan was IIBR's first director.

Some of the fields in which IIBR conducts research include:

IIBR also has a non-public scope of operation. Due to its secretive and defense-related nature, it is widely assumed that the institute develops vaccines and antidotes for chemical and biological warfare. Some sources speculate that the IIBR also develops offensive capabilities in these fields. The IIBR also provides lethal toxin weapons for use in assassinations by the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service.

El Al Flight 1862, which crashed in the Netherlands in 1992, was carrying cargo destined for the Israel Institute for Biological Research which included 190 litres of dimethyl methylphosphonate, which could be used in the synthesis of Sarin nerve gas. The shipment was from a U.S. chemical plant under a U.S. Department of Commerce licence. Dimethyl methylphosphonate is now a Chemical Weapons Convention schedule 2 chemical.

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