Israel Rules Out Signing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Official: Asking Israel to Sign NPT Violates International Law

Israeli officials today scorned a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calling on them to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), insisting it was unfair to single Israel out when they aren’t the only nation on the planet that has refused to sign it.

Israel is however the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear arsenal and is also the only country in the Middle East which is not a signatory to the NPT. The effort has picked up steam with efforts to create a nuclear-free Middle East, but has been scorned by Israel and also by the Obama Administration, which despite their ostensible support for disarmament insists Israel has an inherent right to their arsenal.

But while calls for Israel to join the NPT and angry condemnations by Israeli officials are nothing new, Israeli Atomic Chief Shaul Horev made the rather unique claim that such calls violate “basic principles and norms of international law.”

Yet calls for Israel, as well as India and Pakistan to sign the NPT are quite common and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that any of this is stopping.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.