{{notability, date=October 2012 Project Daniel was a 2003

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i project, commissioned to assess the threat to the nation of Israel from other states in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, drawing particular attention to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, with

Iran's nuclear program The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facili ...

in mind. It was prepared by a high-powered team of Israeli foreign policy and military experts. The report was submitted to Israeli Prime Minister,

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

, and was discussed between Israel, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. It surmised that the "principal existential threat to Israel at the present time is a conventional war mounted against it by a coalition of Arab states and/or

Members

The six members of the Project Daniel board were Professor Louis René Beres and Doctor Rand H. Fishbein (a former Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to Senator

Daniel K. Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( ; September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. representative f ...

) from the United States, Naaman Belkind, former assistant to the Israeli Deputy Minister of Defense for Special Means, Major General Professor Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, Doctor Adir Pridor, former head of Military Analysis, and Colonel

Yoash Tzidon Yoash "Matti" Tzidon ( he, יואש צידון, 28 November 1926 – 8 July 2015) was an Israeli former Air Force commander and politician. Biography Born Yoash Chatto in Focşani, Romania in 1926, Tzidon made aliyah to Mandatory Palestine in 19 ...

, from Israel.

Summary of recommendations

The project discussed the danger from '

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

' (WMDs), including

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

, chemical and biological weapons, particularly as Israel has such a high concentration of population. The recommendations of the report were that Israel should do anything possible to prevent an anti-Israeli coalition from being formed, and from that coalition gaining control of WMDs. It suggested Israel should retain the option of carrying out preemptive strikes, describing them as 'anticipatory self-defense'. The strikes would be a combination of

air strike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

s and selective covert operations by ground forces at certain critical (and publicly unnamed) locations. It also recommended that Israel should retain its current

policy of deliberate ambiguity A policy of deliberate ambiguity (also known as a policy of strategic ambiguity, ''strategic uncertainty'') is the practice by a government of being intentionally ambiguous on certain aspects of its foreign policy. It may be useful if the country ...

regarding its nuclear status. If, at a later date, other states in the Middle East (particularly Iran) were to acquire nuclear technology that Israel perceived as a threat, then the Daniel Project recommended limited disclosure of Israel's nuclear weapons capacity, as a deterrent. The final recommendation was that Israel should provide constructive support to the

' War on Terrorism, particularly in counter-terrorism operations.

External links

Project Daniel members
from the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

Analysis Group. Israeli nuclear development Foreign relations of Israel

Members

Summary of recommendations

See also

External links