NOVANEWS
Arab States Sought to Include Israeli Nukes on Agenda
by Jason Ditz
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual September meeting is on the horizon, and that means the usual round of angry Israeli condemnations for Arab nations attempting to put their nuclear arsenal on the agenda.
The IAEA talks regularly include discussion of the stalled Nuclear-Free Middle East initiative, and that necessarily means discussion of the only nuclear armed state in the region.
Israel insists that any discussion of their nuclear arsenal is “counterproductive” and an attempt to “bash Israel,” while officials reiterated their opposition to a nuclear arms-free Middle East, citing neighbors that Israel doesn’t like.
Still, at least one Arab envoy said that efforts to get Israel’s arsenal under IAEA safeguards would continue, and to get Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Israel has repeatedly ruled out.
The IAEA talks regularly include discussion of the stalled Nuclear-Free Middle East initiative, and that necessarily means discussion of the only nuclear armed state in the region.Israel insists that any discussion of their nuclear arsenal is “counterproductive” and an attempt to “bash Israel,” while officials reiterated their opposition to a nuclear arms-free Middle East, citing neighbors that Israel doesn’t like.
Still, at least one Arab envoy said that efforts to get Israel’s arsenal under IAEA safeguards would continue, and to get Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Israel has repeatedly ruled out.
