Samson Option

English

Etymology

In reference to Samson, who destroyed the temple in which he was captured, killing everyone inside including himself.

Proper noun

Samson Option

  1. A last-resort strategy employed by Israel involving massive nuclear retaliation within and outside of Israel.
    • 2009 June 7, Filipe, CNN‎[1], archived from the original on 1 February 2023:
      The Samson Option states that Moshe Dayan gave the go-ahead for starting weapon production in early 1968, putting the plutonium separation plant into full operation.
  2. (by extension) Any massively destructive strategy used as a last resort, especially one that is also self-destructive.
    • 2020 December 29, Frida Ghitis, “Trump has set Republicans up to fail in Georgia”, in CNN‎[2], archived from the original on 3 October 2022:
      Trump’s fiercest advocates have launched their Samson option: If he can’t keep power, they’ll bring down the party with him by calling for a boycott of the election.

Translations

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