Living with Iran: Israel's Strategic Imperative

Few things are "inevitable" and not all that is "obvious" is true.  The perils and limitations of a purely military approach to security revealed.

Perspectives Paper No. 249

Living with Iran: Israel's Strategic Imperative 

by Professor Louis René Beres and General John T. Chain 
 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In response to the almost inevitable Iranian nuclear bomb, Israel must suitably integrate a clear nuclear deterrence posture with multi-layered active defenses. This complex effort should include relevant cyber-defenses, emergent space technologies, and certain core modifications of Israel's deliberate nuclear ambiguity. All regional enemies should already understand that Israel is a nuclear power, but taking the bomb out of the "basement" could help Jerusalem dispel any still-lingering doubts about the country's available nuclear capacity and resolve. Iran must never be allowed to believe that Israel's strategic forces are somehow too vulnerable to first-strike attack, or too destructive for operational military use.

http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/living-iran-israels-strategic-imperative-2/