The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy is a 1991 book by Seymour Hersh. It details the history of Israel's nuclear weapons program and its effects on Israel-American relations. The "Samson Option" of the book's title refers to the nuclear strategy whereby Israel would launch a massive nuclear retaliatory strike if the state itself was being overrun, just as the Biblical figure Samson is said to have pushed apart the pillars of a Philistine temple, bringing down the roof and killing himself and thousands of Philistines who
Ziba (biblical figure) Ziba (biblical figure) Ziba (ציבא) is a man in 2 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He was a servant of Saul, and then later of Saul's grandson, Mephibosheth. Ziba is mentioned in three places. In 2 Samuel 9, David speaks to him and tells him how Mephibosheth will be his master. In 2 Samuel 16, when David flees Jerusalem after Absalom's conspiracy, Ziba comes to David with provisions, and claims Mephibosheth that has broken faith with David. David responds by giving all that belonged to Mephibosheth to Ziba instead. Finally, in 2 Samuel 19, when David returns to Jerusalem, Mephibosheth