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Louis René Beres

Louis René Beres is an author and professor emeritus of international law at Purdue University. He served as the chair of Project Daniel (Iranian nuclear weapons) for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003-04.

Whatever else differentiates ideologies and tactics from one another, Islamist groups will still seek personal redemption through “sacred violence.”
The alleged Hamas goal of Palestinian “self-determination” is founded on an intended crime, that is, the total “removal” of the Jewish state by attrition and annihilation.
For Israel, the true existential threat is an adversary who identifies violence against individual Jews and the Jewish state as “sacred.”
Israel’s jihadist enemies draw palpable power and purpose from a literally primal loathing of reason and rationality.
An Israel-Hamas “ceasefire” would breach international law.
Israel’s safety could best be served by waging a “just war” against a still pre-nuclear Iran.
Removing the bomb from the “basement” could enhance Israel’s strategic deterrence.
A non-nuclear Iran could use Pyongyang as a nuclear state proxy.
To what extent could a greater conceptual awareness of time generate calculable security advantages for the beleaguered Jewish state?
In a worst-case scenario, Israel’s post-Gaza War efforts at self-defense would involve Iran as a direct enemy belligerent.
The “bomb-in-the-basement” policy has made good sense for Israel.