'Catastrophic loss': Iranian blow to Weizmann’s war-linked facilities

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Calcalist
19 Jun 2025 20:16
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Israeli panic over the Weizmann strike highlights how deeply academia is entangled in military operations and regional aggression, from Gaza to Iran.

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Damage to the Weizmann Institute of Science from an Iranian missile strike in Rehovot, Thursday, June 19, 2025 (AP)

Israeli media outlets have gone into overdrive following the Iranian missile strike that devastated the Weizmann Institute of Science on Sunday, portraying the attack as one of the most significant blows to the Israeli entity's militarized science infrastructure since the war began.

Reports have heavily emphasized the scale of destruction, with Calcalist, an outlet tied to the Yedioth Ahronoth Group, valuing the losses between $50 million and $100 million.

CCTV cameras documented the impact of an #Iranian missile on the Israeli Weizmann Institute of Science.

Israeli media also reported that a building housing laboratories for the institute had caught on fire, leaving people stuck in the building.

The institute plays a crucial… pic.twitter.com/BDxbhOPw2k
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 15, 2025

Some Israeli analysts view the strike as a possible strategic shift, suggesting that Iranian forces may now be targeting weaponized research facilities classified as high-value assets.

In response, multiple campuses have suspended on-site activities and shut down sensitive research labs.

'Catastrophic' damage

Senior personnel at Weizmann indicated that the cost of constructing such facilities can range from $50 million to $100 million, with high-tech equipment and research materials adding significantly more. One expert noted that research buildings rank just behind hospitals in construction expense, averaging 25,000 shekels per square meter, not including specialized instrumentation.

“The damage to some laboratories is catastrophic,” said Israeli Prof. Sarel Fleishman of the Faculty of Biochemistry. “In life science labs, much of the knowledge is embedded in the devices, the freezers, and the research materials developed over many years. Now we are scrambling to extract what we can and relocate as fast as possible.”

Fleishman’s lab suffered minimal damage and has been repurposed as a temporary shelter for displaced researchers.

“Entire research wings have been wiped out. Some labs lost everything—materials representing years of accumulated expertise. This isn’t just infrastructure loss; it’s decades of student research and potentially life-saving discoveries. It will take years to rebuild,” he told Calcalist.

Prof. Daniel Haimovich, president of Ben-Gurion University and chair of the Council of University Presidents, noted that institutions now face an existential risk amid the ongoing military escalation.

In recent months, Israeli academic institutions such as the Weizmann Institute, Technion, and Hebrew University have faced mounting scrutiny, internally from government efforts to impose tighter political control over academic governance and externally from intensifying global condemnation, boycott campaigns, and exposure of their complicity in the Israeli military agenda, as per the report.

My lab at @WeizmannScience was completely demolished by the Iranian missile a few days ago. This is hard and sad as nothing was left to save. We study heart regeneration and regenerative medicine. As such, we will regenerate, regrow and rebuild. The one thing that wasn't gone is… pic.twitter.com/PPdACcXk6g
— Eldad Tzahor (@Tzahore) June 16, 2025

These institutions do not operate in isolation from the war; they serve dual roles as research hubs and enablers of the Israeli war machine. The Weizmann Institute, in particular, has played a central role in developing technologies used for coordinating airstrikes, enhancing drone warfare systems, and advancing battlefield medical applications, all of which have been deployed in repeated aggressions on civilian populations in Gaza, South Lebanon, Yemen, and most recently, Iran.

'The Iranians recognize the power of science; unlike our own government'

Some Israeli researchers, in a tone of irony, remarked that Iran’s targeting of such institutions may reflect a recognition of their strategic importance, an acknowledgment they claim is lacking from within the Israeli establishment itself.

“It’s clear that Israeli academia is a target,” Haimovich told Calcalist. “At least the Iranians recognize the power of science, unlike our own government.”

He recounted a conversation in which a senior government official accused academic institutions of contributing to international boycott movements:

“We’re treated as enemies of the people, even though our research fuels the very technologies that defend Israel. The pilots, the intelligence units, the engineers - they all come from our universities," Haimovich admitted.

“The government must understand that investing in research is the best security investment Israel can make. Scientists need independence to pursue discoveries. The greatest threat to academia is politicization, particularly of institutions like The Council for Higher Education, where political interests may override scientific merit,” he concluded by saying.

Le crème de la crème of militarized science meets consequences of war

The remarks cited in Calcalist's report inadvertently highlight what many in the region have long argued: that Israeli academic institutions like the Weizmann Institute are deeply embedded within the occupation’s military-industrial complex.

#Iran struck the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, southeast of Tel Aviv, whose media framed the operation as direct payback for the assassination of its nuclear scientists.

CCTV footage and satellite images later confirmed that the missile caused visible structural… pic.twitter.com/uBLlphvyCr
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 16, 2025

Far from being neutral centers of learning, these institutions actively contribute to the development of technologies used in systematic aggressions against civilians across Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and now Iran.

In this context, Iran’s targeting of Weizmann is not an arbitrary escalation but a calculated response to a facility that plays a direct role in enabling the occupation’s genocidal campaigns. By housing research tied to airstrike coordination, drone warfare, and battlefield logistics, the Weizmann Institute has transformed from an academic institution into a legitimate node in "Israel’s" war infrastructure, and thus, a valid target in the eyes of those resisting its regional aggression.