Israel Matzav: Confirmed: Turks plan to raise Israeli nukes at Washington conference

Confirmed: Turks plan to raise Israeli nukes at Washington conference

After the fact, the Egyptians are claiming that they had no intention of raising the issue of Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal at President Obama's nuclear conference on Monday and Tuesday. On the other hand, the Turks have admitted that they do plan to raise it.

"We believe that Netanyahu withdrew from the summit because he did not want to face President Obama and is using Egypt and Turkey as an excuse," a senior Egyptian diplomat said.

Another senior Arab diplomat intimately involved in the negotiations said Arab states had no plan to "politicize" the venue and raise the Israeli issue there.

"We are surprised that the Israeli prime minister would use this as a pretext for not attending," the second diplomat told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would demand at the summit that Israel disarm as part of a nuclear-free Middle East.

The French newspaper Le Monde quoted Erdogan as saying in Paris this week that "Israel is the principal threat to peace in the region today."

"Israel has nuclear weapons but doesn't belong to the NPT. Does that mean that those who don't sign the NPT are in a privileged position?"

By the way, I'm not thrilled that Netanyahu is sending Dan Meridor to this conference. Meridor is probably the most Left-leaning member of Netanyahu's cabinet. I would have sent Ehud Barak. He also leans Left, but as a military man he knows the value of Israel's alleged nuke deterrent, and on that score, at least, could be trusted to keep his mouth shut while making the Americans just as happy as having Meridor there.

Israel Matzav: Confirmed: Turks plan to raise Israeli nukes at Washington conference