Global Security Newswire

The choice by Arab nations to set aside on Friday another bid to have the International Atomic Energy Agency pressure Israel over its presumed nuclear deterrent was "cautiously" greeted by Jerusalem "as a positive move," Reuters reported (see GSN, Sept. 22).

The Arab countries announced they would not seek passage of a measure on "Israeli Nuclear Capabilities" at last week's IAEA General Conference, even as several of the nations used the forum to criticize Israeli atomic policies. Similar measures were pursued at the 2009 and 2010 meetings; the earlier measure passed, but last year's resolution was narrowly defeated. Israel abides by a longstanding policy of neither confirming nor denying it possesses a nuclear deterrent.

The governments said their change in plans was intended to benefit efforts to carry out a planned November IAEA meeting on existing regional nuclear-weapon bans, as well as a 2012 conference expected to consider a potential WMD-free zone in the Middle East.

The Arab countries in a statement said they had resolved not to pursue the step against Israel in 2011 "for the sake of giving yet another final chance to ongoing international efforts (toward creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons) as well as a goodwill gesture from us." As Jerusalem continues to prohibit U.N. inspectors from its nuclear facilities, "tensions keep escalating which might lead to an arms race in the Middle East with unpredictable consequences," the nations added.

Jerusalem commended the turn of events while denouncing "political diatribes" issued in opposition to Israel, which one official said is "gravely threatened by the alarming proliferation developments" in the region.

"We have cautiously defined it as a positive move," Israeli Atomic Energy Commission Deputy Director General David Danieli said in a statement to Reuters, echoing his remarks to last week's meeting of the 151 member nations to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Still, the Arab states' tabling of the proposal was "tactical" and a "very partial" effort, Danieli said, noting the governments appeared set to pursue the issue again when the IAEA General Conference next convenes in 2012.

Washington's envoy to the conference expressed a desire for the Arab nations' choice to mark a turning point.

"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," U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Glyn Davies said.

A separate measure endorsed at last week's meeting urges all Middle Eastern states to accede to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a move that would require Israel to abandon its presumed stockpile. Neither Jerusalem nor Washington took formal stances on the initiative (Fredrik Dahl, Reuters, Sept. 23).

Israel's decision to shun the global nonproliferation regime and prevent IAEA access to its atomic sites "is a threat ... to the security and stability of the Middle Eastern states," the Associated Press quoted Syrian atomic energy agency chief Ibrahim Othman as saying. Additional Arab governments issued similar remarks, according to AP.

"The international community must bring real and genuine pressure to bear on Israel," Othman said.

In a statement provided on behalf of developing countries, which have commonly backed the positions of Islamic states, Egyptian diplomat Khaled Shamaa pressed the conference to take action on the atomic asymmetry now permitting "one party to threaten its neighbors and the region" (George Jahn, Associated Press/SFGate.com, Sept. 23).