Israel and U.S. at odds over nuclear treaty proposal
The United States on Thursday published a draft of a new international treaty that would forbid the production of fissionable materials for use in nuclear weapons, overriding Israel’s objections to the proposed document.
The draft, which was presented to the UN Disarmament Commission in Geneva, aims to “freeze” existing stocks of fissionable materials worldwide in order to keep them from expanding.
Although Washington sent messages to Israel assuring it that it has nothing to fear from the treaty, Jerusalem is worried by any move that might erode its policy of nuclear ambiguity and generate future pressures on it over its nuclear program. As a result, Israel made a last-minute effort to persuade the U.S. not to submit the draft for discussion: The chairman and deputy chairman of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, Gideon Frank and Eli Levita, were in Washington last week, where they are believed to have raised this issue with their American counterparts.
haaretz.com
And why pray-tell is Israel allowed to maintain a policy of ‘nuclear ambiguity’? Where is the IAEA?