Israel sees 'positive' Arab move at IAEA meeting
Arab states not submit a text entitled "Israeli Nuclear Capabilities" for a vote at the annual member state gathering.
VIENNA:
Israel welcomed as a "positive move" on Friday a decision by Arab states not to single out the Jewish state with a resolution condemning its assumed nuclear arsenal at a meeting of the UN atomic agency.
Arab delegations described this as a "goodwill" gesture ahead of talks later this year on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons and an Egyptian-proposed conference in 2012 on creating a zone without such arms in the Middle East.
They said they would not submit a text 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.
It was a rare conciliatory exchange during an otherwise heated plenary debate of the 151-member Vienna-based agency that otherwise once again highlighted deep Israeli-Arab divisions.
Israel is widely believed to harbour 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 region's main proliferation threats, accusing Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear arms capability in secret.
At the IAEA's annual meetings in the previous two years, Arab states put forward a non-binding but symbolically important draft resolution that called on Israel to join the NPT and place all its atomic sites under agency supervision.
It was approved in 2009 and then re-submitted last year to keep up the pressure on Israel. But it was defeated the second time around after intense lobbying by the United States, which argued that zeroing in on Israel would undermine wider efforts to ban nuclear weapons in the volatile Middle East.
In a surprise move, Arab countries decided last week not to push ahead with the text again this year, saying this was to give a better chance for the planned Nov. 21-22 discussions and the 2012 meeting to succeed.
Hosted by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, the forum in two months' time will focus on the experience of other regions in the world that have banned weapons of mass destruction.
Arab states, Israel and other countries are expected to attend the talks, which are regarded as a way to kick-start a dialogue and help generate some badly needed confidence.
But few expect any substantial progress, with one Vienna-based diplomat saying there was not a "great deal" of optimism.
New beginning?
In a statement read by Lebanon's envoy, the Arab group said it had decided not to submit the Israeli resolution this year "for the sake of giving yet another final chance to ongoing international efforts (towards creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons) as well as a goodwill gesture from us."
An Israeli representative, while condemning "political diatribes" against his country made even though it was "gravely threatened by the alarming proliferation developments" in the Middle East, nevertheless welcomed the Arab move.
"The decision by the Arab group, from whatever motivations and constraints, not to table this year a draft resolution is nonetheless 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."
Earlier on Friday, the IAEA meeting adopted a resolution calling on all countries in the Middle East to join the NPT, without naming any state. Israel and the United States abstained in the vote. The other two countries outside the treaty are India and Pakistan, both with declared nuclear weapons.
Israel has never confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons under a policy of ambiguity to deter numerically superior foes.
Arab states, backed by Iran, say Israel's stance poses a threat to regional peace and stability.
Israel says it would only join the NPT if there is a comprehensive Middle East peace with its longtime Arab and Iranian adversaries. If it signed the 1970 pact, Israel would have to renounce nuclear weaponry.
Glyn Davies, the US ambassador to the IAEA, said he hoped the Arab decision not to table a resolution on Israel this year signalled a new beginning.
"The United States of America believes the time has come to put this issue behind us for the sake of true progress toward our shared goal of a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction," Davies told delegates.
Israel welcomed as a "positive move" on Friday a decision by Arab states not to single out the Jewish state with a resolution condemning its assumed nuclear arsenal at a meeting of the UN atomic agency.
Arab delegations described this as a "goodwill" gesture ahead of talks later this year on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons and an Egyptian-proposed conference in 2012 on creating a zone without such arms in the Middle East.
They said they would not submit a text 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.
It was a rare conciliatory exchange during an otherwise heated plenary debate of the 151-member Vienna-based agency that otherwise once again highlighted deep Israeli-Arab divisions.
Israel is widely believed to harbour 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 region's main proliferation threats, accusing Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear arms capability in secret.
At the IAEA's annual meetings in the previous two years, Arab states put forward a non-binding but symbolically important draft resolution that called on Israel to join the NPT and place all its atomic sites under agency supervision.
It was approved in 2009 and then re-submitted last year to keep up the pressure on Israel. But it was defeated the second time around after intense lobbying by the United States, which argued that zeroing in on Israel would undermine wider efforts to ban nuclear weapons in the volatile Middle East.
In a surprise move, Arab countries decided last week not to push ahead with the text again this year, saying this was to give a better chance for the planned Nov. 21-22 discussions and the 2012 meeting to succeed.
Hosted by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, the forum in two months' time will focus on the experience of other regions in the world that have banned weapons of mass destruction.
Arab states, Israel and other countries are expected to attend the talks, which are regarded as a way to kick-start a dialogue and help generate some badly needed confidence.
But few expect any substantial progress, with one Vienna-based diplomat saying there was not a "great deal" of optimism.
New beginning?
In a statement read by Lebanon's envoy, the Arab group said it had decided not to submit the Israeli resolution this year "for the sake of giving yet another final chance to ongoing international efforts (towards creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons) as well as a goodwill gesture from us."
An Israeli representative, while condemning "political diatribes" against his country made even though it was "gravely threatened by the alarming proliferation developments" in the Middle East, nevertheless welcomed the Arab move.
"The decision by the Arab group, from whatever motivations and constraints, not to table this year a draft resolution is nonetheless 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."
Earlier on Friday, the IAEA meeting adopted a resolution calling on all countries in the Middle East to join the NPT, without naming any state. Israel and the United States abstained in the vote. The other two countries outside the treaty are India and Pakistan, both with declared nuclear weapons.
Israel has never confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons under a policy of ambiguity to deter numerically superior foes.
Arab states, backed by Iran, say Israel's stance poses a threat to regional peace and stability.
Israel says it would only join the NPT if there is a comprehensive Middle East peace with its longtime Arab and Iranian adversaries. If it signed the 1970 pact, Israel would have to renounce nuclear weaponry.
Glyn Davies, the US ambassador to the IAEA, said he hoped the Arab decision not to table a resolution on Israel this year signalled a new beginning.
"The United States of America believes the time has come to put this issue behind us for the sake of true progress toward our shared goal of a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction," Davies told delegates.