In the early 1400s, the University of Padua opened its doors to Jewish medical students—the first European institution of higher learning to do so as a matter of course. The school quickly attracted a sizeable number of aspiring Jewish physicians, while positioning itself as a trendsetter in the study of medicine. Edward Reichman recounts a disturbing episode from this era, discovered in a long-forgotten 17th-century Hebrew text:

On the 17th of Shevat 5440 [January 18, 1680], a young man by the name of Ḥananel (a/k/a Graziadio) Levi died in the [Padua] ghetto. His body was prepared for burial, but in the interim, a band of raucous students from the University of Padua stormed the ghetto, kidnapped the body, and whisked it away to the anatomy room in preparation for dissection and medical-student instruction. The Jewish community was in an uproar, riots ensued, and all political channels were pursued to secure the return of the body.

When initial efforts failed, some members of the Jewish community on their own initiative attempted unsuccessfully to enter the anatomy lecture hall under cover of night to procure the body. Ultimately, after one week, negotiations succeeded, and the Jews were promised by the university that they needn’t worry about similar infractions in the future, and that the bodies of the Jewish community would no longer be forcefully taken for anatomical dissection.

Behind this incident was the university’s demand that ethnoreligious communities from which students hailed, rather than individuals, provide the cadavers. Reichman explains:

Simultaneous with the expansion of the Jewish community in Padua, a young professor on campus was quietly revolutionizing the study of anatomy. Andreas Vesalius, who arrived in Padua in 1537, began to hold frequent public and private anatomical displays and approached the study of human anatomical dissection in a systematic fashion not previously attempted. Grave robbing became commonplace in order to supplement the source of bodies.

As elated as Jews were to walk the halls of a premier university for the first time in history, this privilege would not compel the abrogation of ancient Torah principles. Jewish law forbids the dissection of the human body after death absent mitigating circumstances yielding direct and immediate life-saving benefit from the procedure. The prohibitions of desecrating and deriving benefit from the corpse, as well as the obligation to bury the body, preclude routine dissection or autopsy.

In 2003, the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, spooked by the American display of might in Iraq, decided to destroy or surrender his entire nuclear program. Informed observers have suggested that the deal he made with the U.S. should serve as a model for any agreement with Iran. Robert Joseph provides some useful background:

Gaddafi had convinced himself that Libya would be next on the U.S. target list after Iraq. There was no reason or need to threaten Libya with bombing as Gaddafi was quick to tell almost every visitor that he did not want to be Saddam Hussein. The images of Saddam being pulled from his spider hole . . . played on his mind.

President Bush’s goal was to have Libya serve as an alternative model to Iraq. Instead of war, proliferators would give up their nuclear programs in exchange for relief from economic and political sanctions.

Any outcome that permits Iran to enrich uranium at any level will fail the one standard that President Trump has established: Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Limiting enrichment even to low levels will allow Iran to break out of the agreement at any time, no matter what the agreement says.

Iran is not a normal government that observes the rules of international behavior or fair “dealmaking.” This is a regime that relies on regional terror and brutal repression of its citizens to stay in power. It has a long history of using negotiations to expand its nuclear program. Its negotiating tactics are clear: extend the negotiations as long as possible and meet any concession with more demands.