Israel condemns “distorted” Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference motion
Israel will not implement the unanimous Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review conference resolution due to its "flawed, hypocritical and distorted nature," according to a government statement.
President Barack Obama and senior US officials deplored Israel's mention in the resolution passed by the 189 NPT members Friday, May 29, which called for a Middle East nuclear-free conference in two years, demanded that Israel sign the treaty and submit to international inspections: "We strongly oppose efforts to single out Israel," said Obama, "and will oppose actions that jeopardize Israel's national security."
Leading the US delegation, National Security Adviser James Jones said the failure of the resolution to mention Iran, "which poses the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation in the region and to the integrity of the NPT, is also deplorable."
Iran's chief delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the Americans should "think twice" before making such statements. "This was not the right reaction to a positive response, positive measure by our delegation joining the consensus," he said.
The US had "serious reservations" about the 2012 Middle East conference, said Jones. Its attendance would be voluntary "when all countries feel confident that they can attend," and the singling out of Israel by calling on the Jewish state to join the NPT and submit to UN safeguards placed the prospects of the 2012 conference "in doubt."
The Israeli statement denounced the singling out of the only true democracy in the Middle East and the only country threatened with annihilation. Yet the Iran which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and threatens to wipe Israel off the map was not even mentioned in the resolution.
The US moreover insists on a peace agreement between Israel and its neighbors being put in place before it is required to take steps on its unconfirmed nuclear arsenal.
debkafile adds: This counts as the Obama administration's policy of continued support for the Jewish state's policy of nuclear ambiguity espoused by its predecessors and acceptance in advance of Israeli absenting itself from the Middle East nuclear disarmament conference in two years time.
However, after the Obama administration voted for the NPT motion mentioning Israel, the first US government to do so in 15 years, Israel is likely to hold out for guarantees beyond verbal statements that Washington will thwart future steps against its interests. Jerusalem has made preservation of its security a sine qua non for progress in peace diplomacy. These issues will certain be raised at the White House meeting next Tuesday, June 1 between president Obama and visiting Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, together with the climate of war engendered by Hizballah's long-range Scud missile buildup by Syria just short the Lebanese border, as revealed first by debkafile and confirmed Friday, May 28 by Netanyahu in a conversation with Italian prime minister Silva Berlusconi.
