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The Begin Doctrine: The Lessons of Osirak and Deir ez-Zor

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin - Prime Minister Menachem Begin drafted the unofficial Israeli doctrine that seeks to prevent countries hostile to Israel, and that call for its destruction, from developing a nuclear military capability. With the perspective of hindsight, the Israeli government decisions to attack nuclear reactors in Iraq in 1981 and in Syria in 2007 were clearly correct. Saddam Hussein and Bashar al-Assad, who had no qualms about using chemical weapons against their own people, could have constituted extremely dangerous enemies had they been armed with a nuclear weapon. The Islamic State, which took control over major areas of Syria and Iraq (including the actual Syrian reactor site in Deir ez-Zor), could definitely have gained access to fissile material - a development that would have exposed the entire world to unprecedented risks. The writer, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, is director of INSS.
2018-03-22 00:00:00
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