Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
- Slaughter in Connecticut: 20 Children, 6 Adults Dead in Kindergarten Massacre
- Robots and Robber Barons
- The PSY Scandal: Singing about Killing People v. Constantly Doing It
- Study: World's Mighty Giants Dying off at Alarming Rate
- 'I'd Rather Fight Like Hell': Naomi Klein's Fierce New Resolve to Fight for Climate Justice
- 'I'd Rather Fight Like Hell': Naomi Klein's Fierce New Resolve to Fight for Climate Justice
- Save the Children: Tears and Tragedy in Connecticut
- A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill
- Study: World's Mighty Giants Dying off at Alarming Rate
- The Mass Media Favorites Fall Out of Favor
Popular content
Today's Top News
Israel: It's Against Our Interest to Join Anti-Nuclear Arms Treaty
Israel rejects offer to join UN atomic agency
VIENNA - It is against Israel's interests to join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty and the UN atomic watchdog is overstepping its mandate in demanding it to do so, its nuclear chief said on Tuesday.
It is against Israel's interests to join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty and the UN atomic watchdog is overstepping its mandate in demanding it to do so, its nuclear chief said on Tuesday. (AFP/File/Menahem Kahana) Arab states have tabled a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency annual conference in Vienna for Israel to fore swear nuclear weapons and sign up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"Israel is not the only member state ... that has exercised its sovereign right not to accede to the NPT due to its national security considerations," Israel's Atomic Energy Commission chief Shaul Chorev said.
"Yet Israel is the only state that has been singled out, and is called upon to take a decision which is against its best national interests," he told the conference.
"Indeed, the advancement of states' accessions to international treaties does not fall within the mandate of the (IAEA)," he said.
The Jewish state is the only Middle East power believed to possess nuclear weapons.
Chorev said the resolution tabled by the Arab states was part of a "political campaign to defame the state of Israel".
It was "incompatible with basic principles and norms of international law and does not fall within the mandate of the agency as defined in its statute," he said.
"Moreover, this resolution ... ignores the adverse reality in the Middle East region," Chorev said.
He said that Middle East states such as Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq under Saddam Hussein -- all signatories to the NPT -- had "grossly violated their treaty obligations".
"These four cases make it absolutely clear that the NPT is unable to adequately address the security challenges in the Middle East region where the treaty has been most abused," Chorev said.
"The serious threat to the NPT and the non-proliferation regime is posed from within by those states that pursue nuclear weapons under the cover of their NPT membership."
The Arab states' resolution, which has been tabled every year for the past few years, is expected to be debated on Thursday.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...

65 Comments so far
Show AllWhat's the hypocrisy? Israel seems to be very clear and consistent about why it will not join, that is, safety and security. We can only speculate that in a world with entities NOT sworn to Israel's destruction, Israel might be willing to join the treaty.
And who is sworn to their destruction? Please elaborate?
Of course, it's quite Ironic, that one of the main justifications for the creation of Israel is for the safety of the Jews and yet they love to trot out the old, being in a sea of people that are sworn to it's destruction canard.
Maybe consistent violent land theft that started with a Darfur-style ethnic cleansing campaign isn't a good way to make friends.
But what do you expect when one define one’s country by a clearly human-devised, tribal-based, millennia-old mythology.
Not just pathetic, it’s incomprehensibly dumb. I mean, really? Some piece of mythological literature is the basis of a modern nation-state and justification of flagrant violations of law and human decency?
You may perceive a flash of incredibly intense light, but that will be it.
It's against most of the world's interest that Israel have nukes.
I suppose, though, that having nukes has never been a matter of democratic consent. Not even in the United States, which had them first, for was a vote ever taken in this country whether it should have nuclear weapons?
"Not even in the United States, which had them first, for was a vote ever taken in this country whether it should have nuclear weapons?"
Oikos,
The answer is no..I realize your question was rhetorical but if ever there were to be such a vote I fear the pro-nuclear weapons folks would win......
Thomas Gilbert
When have you ever voted on any national issue besides elections? Energy, foreign policy, environment, education, finance, defense? Tell me one. There is no democracy at the national level in the US, only at state and local levels. Our national government is purely representative and not democratic at all.
It looks like the Isrealis are simply following the lead of their benefactor, Amerikkka.
Since when has either of these two fascist states done the right thing regarding weapons of mass destruction and stealing the resources of other nations.
Israel has not been "singled out". I believe that the same request has been made of North Korea, India and Pakistan, all of which have nuclear weapons but have not signed the NPT.
That is not actually correct. This move is different than any before that were made to India and Pakistan. Also North Korea *was* a member and then withdrew which is their prerogative under the treaty.
I think for the sake of the region and the world, Israel should join the NNPT, but it is not being hypocritical in not doing so. Israel had never had support of 90%+ of the UN members so from their standpoint, there really isn't much incentive for joining in any agreement that reduces, even rightfully from the standpoint of all the other countries, their autonomy.
Israel believes it is under siege. Rightly or wrongly, so their logical move is always to protect itself regardless of cost. Historically I might add that even though everyone *talks* a good game against Israel, its economy, the only thing that ANY country believes has always improved. If you attack their livelihood, that is the only thing that will slow them down.
Again, we can see what we think is right, but they have a different viewpoint and they are too strong to attack directly. The only thing that will change their minds is if they lose business. That is all that will work.
India, Pakistan and North Korea are not threatening the Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and the rest of the world. Israel, on the other hand, continues to invade, to bomb and to stir up war by itself, and to manipulate the global superpower, the USA into doing the dirty work for it. Israel is a serious threat, and they need to be defanged.
Baloney. Israel knows it is not under siege. It is carrying out a siege - of the indigenous people of the holy land, of Iran, of the US Congress, White House and the US media. And after the Gaza massacre and the Mavi Marmara (and a hundred other outrages that you all know about), it is laughable to hear this Jewish terrorist clown Chorev talk about the "norms of international law." It's like an armed bank robber lecturing the bank security guard for overstepping his jurisdiction.
Israel is like a nightmare that you wake up from and realize... it wasn't just a nightmare, it's the real thing. And the scariest ontological consideration is, the nightmare may still continue after we die. One of the few sincere wishes that a moral being can hope for is to see a world free of this plague before we give up our mortal coil. JRR Tolkein could not have conceived a more pernicious evil.
Thanks.
"[Chorev] said that Middle East states such as Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq under Saddam Hussein -- all signatories to the NPT -- had 'grossly violated their treaty obligations'."
Well, that's certainly interesting. The US - at Israel's behest - has been in Iraq for years looking for 'weapons of mass destruction' (which would have to include nuclear weapons) and has found none.
Strange that no one in the media has called him out on this point.
q
In the meantime, Israel may have already let the genie out of the bottle.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19459
I would like to say that Israel did one important thing by abolishing private prisons, maybe it's time to continue on that note.
With all due respect to Mr. Chorev Israel has repeatedly "defamed" itself. Israel's nuclear arms program which is the original "don't ask, don't tell" is a tangible, and immediate, threat to world peace.
If there was an office pool on which country will next use a nuclear weapon my money would be on Israel.
I would add that Israel is a proven proliferator. When the rest of the world voted to sanction South Africa for its racist, fascist, apartheid terrorist policies, Israel was providing technology and equipment to arm that rouge regime with nuclear weapons.
Does this not strongly suggest that, racist (trible/relious/genetic-ethnicist whatever), fascist apartheid terrorist rouge regimes need each other to survive. Israel’s Zionist regime is precisely the kind that must be disarmed from WMD by force if necessary, and I believe it will be necessary.
Nuclear arms are not a national issue. Nuclear weapons are a threat to every other nation’s population and as such they are not a military deterrent, but a weapon of terrorism against civilian masses. Israel can claim no right to nuclear arms.
Israel's colonial activities, ethnic cleansing, and use of terrorism under a phony guise of self preservation, claiming it is being threatened is total hypocrisy. A nuclear armed country would have to have a nuclear armed enemy to justify its ability to threaten retaliation, and thereby claim that they have such weapons as a "defensive" strategy. Israel has no nuclear armed adversaries, but threaten countries with these hideous weapons which they posses in contradiction of their membership of the UN under its charter. As such Israel is the only country standing in the way of establishing a nuclear free Middle East and is the strongest incentive to further proliferation in the region. Israel must be disarmed of its WMD.
Do you mean: "rouge" as in "red",
or do you mean something like: "rogue" as in "unprincipled, dishonest, miscievous, defective among many acceptable ones, wild fierce (animal)driven away or living apart from others (eg rogue elephant) or as in rogue state"?
Thank you for your correction and understanding, I meant rogue.
Israel isn't much of a Jewish state as it fails to represent Jews internationally and libels a great people. Orthodox jews including rabbis consider Zionism a sin against Judaism and its strictest teachings, as it sanctions Jews returning to Israel before the coming of the Messiah based on Jewish religious teaching, which hasn't happened yet based on those same teachings Strictest Jewish religious teaching says the Jews got thrown out of Israel by God and are only to return when the Messiah comes and that wouldn't be the one based on Christian religious teachings.
AD
As part of a deal Israel has made regarding the settlements (peace talks), they have again requested the release of Johnathan Pollard.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/143386.html
Many other media outlets are running this story.
Has Israel ever considered releasing the gentleman who blew the whistle on their nuclear weapons program thus allowing him to leave the country, talk to the press and have a normal life? I think that should also be on the table, don't you?
That hero's name is Mordechai Vanunu. He is still being held incommunicado in Israel.
Israel wants to retain the "Sampson Option" i.e., if it looks like Israel is ever going to lose, they blow up the world.
The 'Sampson Option' is the sign of a true loser.
It certainly is refreshing to see people discussing this topic while properly differentiating between Israelis, Jews, Judaism, and Zionism.
That, curmudgeon99, is a most significant comment.
I, a non-Jew (in fact with Viking ancestors - an 'Arian' to be sure) could rant and rave all day long in greater-America (which doesn’t include LA or ‘Jew-York’) about the caricatured, demonized Jews and never get called on it.
I might add, one of my Norwegian ancestors was drawn and quartered by Nazi SS troops for not seeing things the right way. Similar incidents may account for the reason the Scandinavians forced the defeated German Wehrmacht to walk back to Germany after the war.
I loved Germany when I was there. Things change.
Education goes a long way in overcoming cultural stereotypes.
Knowing real Jewish folks, or any of the ‘other’ as real, is invaluable. Most of us never get to know any of you (I am assuming you are Jewish). I, myself, have only known two of you.
One was a German-Jew of Polish descent, whom I met in Germany. He had some stories to tell. We travelled a bit together, saw some sites and sights, had some laughs, quaffed some suds; however, that was long ago and far away. Unfortunately, I lost track of him. He was a great guy.
The other Jewish young man I knew was from Los Angeles. We worked together and were on the way to becoming pals, but I didn’t stay in LA long enough. That was also long ago. (When you get old you may not end up with anything else, but you certainly have an abundance of memories.
Many of our favorite actors and entertainers are Jewish, but I doubt that many of us ‘goyum’ make the connection. OK, Jackie Mason hits one between the eyes, but most of you are stealth Jews.
I would not want to be a Jew, living in these dangerous times. I see the Wing-Nuts as being a real threat to us all, but especially to you ‘non-Believers’. I could ‘fit right in’ if I chose to, because I know how they ‘think’.
Should something drastic happen in Israel, and the Jesus-bus doesn’t suddenly appear to transfer the Neo-Chosen to their Dreamland, well . . . Oh my!
Pardon my awkwardness, but this is a difficult topic for us non-Jewish folks to address. I don’t know if it makes any sense to you.
Still, congratulations on your posted observation.
Ps. We have this in common - I, too, am a curmudgeon.
Stop all aid to Israel.
Hi Miggy.
You and I strongly disagree on some topics. But we fully agree on this. I guess that is how it rolls. P.S. You should empty out your duplicate posts.
I sadly take back anything good I have said in an earlier post about Israel. Having monitored recent events in Hungary with Israeli military maneuvers, I am FUCKING astonished to see this.
http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15289&Itemid=219
You all should be too.
I wonder what's happening in Bulgaria where Amdocs recently got a huge contract and manuevers were held there too.
.
.
Israel needs a REGIME CHANGE.
The Major Powers must embargo and isolate this "rogue state".
Israel threatens the whole planet, with over 750 Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If peaceful economic and political pressures, can force Israel to give up its NWMD,,,,good. Then the playing field will be levelled, and the planet will be a little bit safer.
If Israel continues to threaten the Middle East; and the rest of the world, then it must be subdued by military force.
//
Actually it is probably about half that. The most I have seen so far from reputable sources is 350 nuclear warheads, but even so, that's enough to turn most of the middle East into radioactive glass. They need to be defanged somehow, and as mentioned above, economics is probably the way to go. It worked for South Africa when Rhodesia and Israel were its only friends, and it may work for Israel as well.
"The serious threat to the NPT and the non-proliferation regime is posed from within by those states that pursue nuclear weapons under the cover of their NPT membership."
These guys must have invented chutzpah.
According to the Zionists’ (anti) logic, Iran can build nuclear weapons without threatening non-proliferation, as long as Iran withdraws from the NPT first.
Right?
Israel is being singled out for a good reason: its racist supremacist, expansionist, ideology and politics; not because the rest of the world is unfairly prejudiced against it.
The Zionists’ brazen contempt for the truth (and implicitly our intelligence) won’t help their case.
Granting the Jews a place of their own might be tolerable. Granting Zionists a place of their own is not. What do you say?
What's new? It's a against a predator's interest to stop stalking prey. The predators are weak, though, weaker than ever today.
This is an article in the Israeli Press
Reports: IAF Landed at Saudi Base, US Troops near Iran Border
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138231
Apparently the "oil and water (don't mix) boys" have gotten together to destroy yet another country. Apparently, Wahabis hate the Persians (Iran) even more than they hate paranoid Israel.
This is a pretty spooky article, especially since it appeared in Arutz Sheva. Here is the lead paragraph.
"The Israeli Air Force recently unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabia base, a semi-official Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday, while a large American force has massed in Azerbaijan, which is on the northwest border of Iran."
There are several other articles linked at the bottom of this one, also well worth the read.
I imagine that, once they have destroyed Iran, they will go back to their own bickering of Arab vs Israeli.
Meanwhile, another ancient culture will be destroyed and its surviving people turned into homeless beggars.
As an old sage once said, "The Human Race is flawed.
It's not the entire human race that's flawed, it's a small minority of violent, power greedy, selfish, jealous BULLIES who are severely flawed.
And the rest of us are Goyem. Get a grip!
Look at all the cowardly bullies and their weapons of mass murder, destruction of nature and of "man's" world. Look at these sorry little men-childs and their violent fantasies come to life. Look at all these stupid, ignorant brats who think they have all the power. Truth is, they have no real power, so they live as fraidy little cowards, bullies, witht their big weapons. Grow up silly little selfish terrible two toddlers.
It is shameful that we support Israel's right to possess nukes but we want to penalize Iran for possessing one. The only resolution is a nuclear free middle east for ALL nations in that area.
it would take about .0000000000002 microseconds for Israel to sign the treaty if the US were to withhold any/all funding to them until they did........It is a joke that the US is a "moderator" in the dispute between them. Who ever heard of a moderator having umbilical ties to one of the parties......the moderator should be a TOTALLY unattached country/group of countries.....
It's very interesting that in the history of building an Israel, that Ben-gurion was adamant that Israel be recognized, so that they could be seen as an equal in the international community.
International treaties, as he expressed at one time, gave a legitimacy to Israel.
Hmmmmm...maybe you try it once, Israel. The change would be good for everyone, including you.
Israel and Zionism, you are against my interest.
Signed:
A peaceful world
yachtie has said it very succinctly! But let's be honest about who is 'responsible" for Isreal. Historically it was the Western powers dictating to peoples of the Middle East in the form of Britain with the Balfour Declaration and then the US grabbing the baton in 1947 and adopting Israel as its client state. After that the incestuous relationship between Zionists in Israel from western europe and the US and pro Israeli Jewish Jewish Americans residing in the US has hijacked American foreign policy in the Middle East to make observers sometimes wonder "who is the client state of whom"? It is the one issue on which almost ALL Republicans and almost ALL Democrats agree. And this in an age where Republicans say "NO" to everything else Obama and Democrats propose. Why is this? Why do Democrats and Republicans echo one another on this one issue of Israel? Maybe it's because when two sides are saying the same thing, only one is doing the thinking...or in THIS case, the LOBBY, yes the Israel lobby is the one doing the thinking. Ignoring George Washington's warnings about favoring one country over another, the US has put itself in the position of supporting policies inimical to its own interests and in opposition to its long ago once held values. To get its soul back, America must, among other tasks, read Israel the riot act!
Thank you. And well commented likewise.
"who is the client state of whom"?
Central question.
Central answer as always: Follow the money.
It is a complex analysis of recent history, interconnected in unbelievable ways. What at first may seem convoluted will deliver a picture, extremely hard to swallow, and very painful to digest: “Collateral Damage” by E. P Heidner, part I and II.
>>> www.scribd.com/people/documents/2169400-ep-heidner <<<
The hope of human beings for long term survival on planet Earth absolutely requires the total abolition of nuclear weapons everywhere on Earth. Zero nuclear weapons, and the inspection and control institutions needed to make it work. Including Israel. Including the United States.
In the Mideast region, where several Arab states seem to be developing nuclear weapons, Israel is not in a position to lead this effort. The United States must lead it. President Obama has made a start by agreeing with Russian President Medvedev to mutually reduce stockpiles by one-third. But that leaves a very long way to go, and he is going about it way too slowly.
It is not understood by many Americans that the nuclear nonproliferation treaty actually has two parts: (1) The non-nuclear nations would agree to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons, and (2) the nuclear nations, led by the United States, would make a concerted effort to get rid of their own weapons under an adequate inspection regime to be implemented. We have a very long way to go before we can honestly say that the U.S. is doing its full part in implementing the N.P. Treaty. We are the only country in the world capable of really leading this effort to save ourselves and the rest of humanity from certain destruction.
I strongly recommend that the participants in this all-important discussion obtain and read the new book "Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World," by Dr. Tad Daley, Rutgers University Press, 2010. Available from Amazon.com for under twenty dollars.
Felix
ROBERT DE ROPP shows us clear in his 1968 book THE MASTER GAME what the deal is. You and I and Sherri are playing the MASTER GAME. We are a minority group, in a world where this game is supposed to be the MAJORITY GAME.
META GAMES AND OBJECT GAMES:
G A M E A I M
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
MASTER GAME awakening
RELIGION GAME salvation
SCIENCE GAME knowledge
ART GAME beauty
__________________________________________________________________
____Householder Game Raise Family
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
NO Game NO aim
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
HOG in Trough wealth
COCK on Dunghill fame
MOLOCH Game glory or victory
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Moloch is "man killer". The WAR is by the LOWEST FORM of man, with the lowest consciousness. Atomic weapons are an OBSCENITY.
And our Congress thinks of itself as a suburb of Tel Aviv.
He said that Middle East states such as Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq under Saddam Hussein -- all signatories to the NPT -- had "grossly violated their treaty obligations".
Except that none of them have nuclear weapons like Israel does
Netanyahu claims "It's Against Israel's Interest to Join Anti-Nuclear Arms Treaty"
If anything is not in Israel's interest, it's having terrorists like Netanyahu as head of the government.
And despite previous assertions by Netanyahu, I don't think blowing up the twin towers and WTC7 will be seen as having served Israel's interests either.
"I fully support the State of Israel and their right to exist... etc
M.B. "
So do I, but not in my back yard....
Not if they are going to cause trouble and call my land, their land. Americans (and australians) have 'owned' the usa and Australia for a few hundred years...
If you have 'owned' land for thousands of years and someone says that doesn't count against a few hundred years, I think they need to re-think.
Too, Israel was not taken in physical battle by those who are Isralis today.
Keeping in mind that Zionism has as crazed murderers because of their religious 'faith' as do Christian et al fundamentalists. Who equally would slit your throat for their idea of 'God' and the rewards... some kind of 'heavenly' place. !
~sc