I remember reading this somewhere years ago. The idea is that Israel will nuke Paris, Berlin, London, etc, in the event that the west cuts off their support and allows it to be defeated by an enemy force.

Is this just a dumbass conspiracy theory, or is there something to it?

  • American_Badass [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    I’ve heard talk about this for a long time, generally called the Samson option, obviously after the biblical figure. Thing is, it just sounds like a “normal” nuclear deterrence strategy of mutually assured destruction, but I know very, very little about it.

    Seymour Hersh has a book about Israel’s nuclear history (called Samson option). I’ve never personally read it, but Hersh is a respected journalist and I’m sure there’s some useful information in it, if you’re interested.

    I don’t understand Israel and nukes anyhow. They’re obviously nuclear armed, but also somewhat ambiguous about that fact. So I don’t know how it functions as a deterrent if it’s a secret.

    • Kaplya@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      Israel keeps its nuclear weapons secret so that the Dimona reactor can skirt IAEA inspection. It is only open for US inspectors and require advanced notice, which renders the inspection useless because they have time to cover up everything in advance. Basically it’s not letting you know exactly how many nukes they have and obfuscates indications of what they intend to do with their nuclear weapons program.

    • CTHlurker [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      Didn’t Isreal get a lot of their nuclear program from straight up stealing blueprints from the American program? Think I remember a few of the insane right wingers on twitter making that point before I blocked them all and Elon deleted my account.

    • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      this isn’t the same thing as the Samson option, which refers to Israel’s willingness to retaliate against an enemy nation which has attacked it. OP’s scenario is a complete fantasy that he picked up from someone whose brain was about a liter too small for their skull.

    • sysgen [none/use name,they/them]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      The difference between MAD and the Samson option, is that in the former you’re only attacking whoever attacked you, while in the former you’re attacking bystanders that refused to intervene on your behalf.

    • webdoodle@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      Seymour Hersh is one of the only true Journalists left that isn’t in hiding, constantly moving, prison or bunkered up somewhere. We would never have learned about the war crimes the U.S. committed in Vietnam if it wasn’t for his reporting on the Mai Lai Massacre, or more recently the Nordstream False Flag.