Israel Matzav: Nuke-free Middle East requires change in Arab attitudes

Nuke-free Middle East requires change in Arab attitudes

The chairman of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission Shaul Chorev told an IAEA meeting in Vienna on Tuesday that there can be no nuclear-free Middle East until there is an attitude change by the Arab countries and they accept Israel's 'right to exist.'

"It is our vision and policy to establish the Middle East as a mutually verifiable zone free if weapons of mass destruction and their delivery," Chorev told delegates.

While Israel firmly supports control of nuclear arms, said Chorev, such a move cannot be imposed on the Middle East from the outside.

"It is the firm view and the policy of Israel, that the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is based on the absolute duty of each state not to abuse this right," said Chorev.

"As the international community has accepted and recognized in other regions, the establishment of such a zone can only emanate from within the region," he said.

Chorev stressed that in order for the Middle East to function as a nuclear-free zone, the Arab states in the region needed to alter that approach to Israel.


"Progress toward realizing this vision cannot be made without a fundamental change in regional circumstances, including a significant transformation in the attitude of states in the region toward Israel," he said.

"The constant efforts by member states in the region to single out the State of Israel in blatantly anti-Israel resolutions in this General Conference is a clear reflection of such hostile attitude.

He also emphasized that many states that are party to the international non-proliferation treaty have violated their commitments. "The most widely recognized cases of non-compliance with legally binding non-proliferation obligations have occurred in the Middle East, by states that are parties to the NPT.

"Grave and overt violations by Iran and Syria had been detected and then formally reported by the IAEA," he added. "The Agency's investigations in these two countries have been hampered by a continued lack of cooperation, denial of access and efforts to conceal and mislead the inspectors."

Chorev promised that Israel was following these developments with "profound concern" and would "assist the international community in its efforts to prevent dangerous proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the abuse of the right to peaceful nuclear energy."

"The activities of these countries that breach their international commitments and obligations must be met with concrete and immediate international measures," he said. "Violations cannot go unpunished."

And the Arab response? Except for Egypt and Jordan, they all walked out when Chorev got up to speak.

Hope and change same!

Israel Matzav: Nuke-free Middle East requires change in Arab attitudes

Israel Matzav: Obama's nuclear summit

Obama's nuclear summit

It looks like President Obama may have put his foot in his mouth again by making grandiose promises without thinking through how he will fulfill them. In July, Obama told the G-8 summit that we would convene a meeting in March to discuss nuclear security. The meeting ought to include all of he world's current and aspiring nuclear powers - some 25-30 nations. But whom will Obama invite? Is Israel on the list?

There’s no good choice.

Invite Israel, and open its leaders up to questions about the country’s widely reported nuclear weapons program — which the Israelis have long refused to discuss.

But leave out Israel, and the Middle Eastern nations who would seem to be a necessity at any summit discussing nuclear security would feel compelled to point to Israel’s reported efforts as a source of instability in the region.

“I see this as one giant root canal which is going to be really painful for everybody who shows up — and for everybody who doesn’t,” said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official who worked on Arab-Israeli peace negotiations under four presidents.

“Even if you try to define the summit agenda to be nuclear terrorism and nuclear security, the people you do invite are going to bring Israel to the table, figuratively speaking, anyway,” Miller said. “They’re going to need to think this through extremely carefully.”

The summit, set for March 9 and 10, is aimed at combating nuclear terrorism, which Obama has called the “most immediate and extreme threat to global security.”

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Israel Matzav: Obama's nuclear summit

Israel Matzav: Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?

Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?

Nicolas Kristof reports on the possibility that Burma is building a plutonium nuclear reactor that is suitable for weapons development, courtesy of their friends the North Koreans.

Here is a photo of a suspect Burmese building that concerns intelligence experts. As you can see, it is near a river –- like the 5 MWe reactor in Yongbyon, North Korea, whose basic design was copied and built in Syria as well. The building has large power lines feeding it. And it’s certainly an unusual building to have in a remote part of impoverished Burma.

While the prospect of Burma's repressive regime going nuclear is a disturbing one, what's more disturbing is the presence of North Korea as Burma's nuclear patron. You may recall that the Syrian el-Kibar reactor that was destroyed by Israel in September 2007 had been built by the North Koreans and financed by the Iranians.

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Israel Matzav: Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?

Israel Matzav: Steyn on the North Korean nuclear test and what it means for Iran

Steyn on the North Korean nuclear test and what it means for Iran

If Mark Steyn ever goes into comedy, I'd nominate Caroline Glick to be his straight man (in addition to his citation to her below, he also refers to the North Korean test as being a way to prove to clients that it works - Glick has made the same argument). Here's part of Steyn's Monday column in the Washington Times on the implications of North Korea's nuclear test.

In the ever-more-pitiful straw-clutching of the State Department, America is said to be banking on a post-Kim era. He apparently has had a bad stroke and might be dead within a decade or three. So what? It's a safe bet that whoever emerges from a power struggle between the family, the party and the military is committed to nuclearization as the principal rationale of the state.

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Israel Matzav: Steyn on the North Korean nuclear test and what it means for Iran

Israel Matzav: Two can play this game: Israel would inform - not ask - before hitting Iran

Two can play this game: Israel would inform - not ask - before hitting Iran

I hope - and suspect - that this analysis is true.A US diplomat told Reuters that in the event that Israel were to attack Iran, he believes that Defense Minister Ehud Barak would call Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to give him a heads up - after the mission is in progress (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

While no one questions Israel's willingness to attack should it deem U.S.-led talks on curbing Iranian uranium enrichment a dead end, such strikes would almost certainly entail at least last-minute coordination with Washington.

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Israel Matzav: Two can play this game: Israel would inform - not ask - before hitting Iran

Israel Matzav: Time for Israel and India to coordinate against Team Obama

Time for Israel and India to coordinate against Team Obama

CNN is reporting that Taliban rebels may be close to gaining access to Pakistan's 30-40 nuclear warheads (Hat Tip: Michael F).

A Pakistani government official said the militants fully withdrew from the Buner district on Friday, although other officials cast doubt on the extent of the pullout and how long it would last. Buner is only 60 miles outside Islamabad.

The situation is particularly concerning because Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state.

The Islamic republic is believed to have between 30 and 40 nuclear warheads, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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Israel Matzav: Time for Israel and India to coordinate against Team Obama