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VIENNA: Member states of the UN atomic agency adopted a resolution on Friday calling on all countries in the Middle East to join a global anti-nuclear treaty, after a debate that highlighted deep divisions between Israel and Arab states.
Israel and the United States abstained in the vote on the Egyptian-proposed text, entitled “Application of IAEA Safeguards in the Middle East,” while most others backed it at the annual member state meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Israel welcomed as a “positive move” the decision by Arab states not to single out the Jewish state with a resolution condemning its assumed atomic arsenal at a meeting of the UN nuclear agency.
Arab delegations earlier said they would not submit a resolution entitled “Israeli Nuclear Capabilities” for a vote at the annual member state gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as they had in 2009 and 2010.
They described this as a “goodwill” gesture ahead of rare IAEA-hosted talks later this year on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons that is expected to be attended by both Israel and Arab countries.
“The decision by the Arab group, from whatever motivations and constraints, not to table this year a draft resolution is ... a positive move,” David Danieli, deputy director of Israel’s atomic energy commission, told the IAEA conference.
“However in order to foster genuine trust and confidence among all regional parties, this must be accompanied next year by withdrawing permanently this politically divisive item from the agenda of the conference,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the 151-member IAEA adopted a resolution calling on all countries in the Middle East to join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty, without naming any state. Israel and the United States abstained.
Israel is widely believed to harbor the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, drawing frequent Arab and Iranian condemnation. The Jewish state is the only Middle East country outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Israel and the United States regard Iran — and to a lesser extent Syria — as the Middle East’s main proliferation threats, accusing Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear arms capability in secret.
Israel and the United States abstained in the vote on the Egyptian-proposed text, entitled “Application of IAEA Safeguards in the Middle East,” while most others backed it at the annual member state meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Israel welcomed as a “positive move” the decision by Arab states not to single out the Jewish state with a resolution condemning its assumed atomic arsenal at a meeting of the UN nuclear agency.
Arab delegations earlier said they would not submit a resolution entitled “Israeli Nuclear Capabilities” for a vote at the annual member state gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as they had in 2009 and 2010.
They described this as a “goodwill” gesture ahead of rare IAEA-hosted talks later this year on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons that is expected to be attended by both Israel and Arab countries.
“The decision by the Arab group, from whatever motivations and constraints, not to table this year a draft resolution is ... a positive move,” David Danieli, deputy director of Israel’s atomic energy commission, told the IAEA conference.
“However in order to foster genuine trust and confidence among all regional parties, this must be accompanied next year by withdrawing permanently this politically divisive item from the agenda of the conference,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the 151-member IAEA adopted a resolution calling on all countries in the Middle East to join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty, without naming any state. Israel and the United States abstained.
Israel is widely believed to harbor the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, drawing frequent Arab and Iranian condemnation. The Jewish state is the only Middle East country outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Israel and the United States regard Iran — and to a lesser extent Syria — as the Middle East’s main proliferation threats, accusing Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear arms capability in secret.
