Published September 20th 2013
favorite?Move sought to see Jewish state join anti-nuclear weapons treaty and open its facilities to UN monitors
Participants in the International Atomic Energy Agency's general conference in Vienna on Friday narrowly voted against an Arab state sponsored resolution seeking to single Israel out for its alleged nuclear weapons program.
While 43 states voted in favor of non-binding resolution that would express concern about "Israeli nuclear capabilities," 51 voted against it.
The resolution aimed to call on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear weapons treaty and place its nuclear facilities under IAEA monitoring. Diplomats told Reuters ahead of the vote that they expected it to be close.
Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, head of the Arab League group at the IAEA, said that unlike a similar plan last year, the text would not be withdrawn, despite stark American opposition.
"The world has to know that Israel is not playing a constructive role, that Israel has a (nuclear) capability," Ramzy said.
"We have engaged seriously and constructively in the preparations (for the conference). The Israelis have been playing for time, delaying, we have never seen enough seriousness on their part," Ramzy said.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Assad?s decision to amass chemical weapons was ?in response to Israel?s nuclear capabilities? and that ?Israel has technological superiority and doesn?t need nuclear weapons.?
Iran this week said Israel's nuclear activities "seriously threaten regional peace and security."
Israel's atomic energy chief, Shaul Chorev, told this week's IAEA meeting that Arab states were using it as a platform for "repeatedly bashing" his country. The Arab move only deepens "existing distrust" among the region's countries, he said.
The US has said that such a move would hurt broader diplomatic efforts towards creating a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction and that any progress depended on Iran curbing its covert nuclear program. Israel threatened to quit peace talks with the Palestinians if such a motion is carried.
A recent report in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists claimed Israel has 80 nuclear warheads and enough fissile material sufficient for anywhere between 115 to 190 warheads.
Israel has always pursued a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither denying nor confirming the possession of atomic weapons.
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