PM's Office: Israel won't comply with NPT resolution
Head of National Information Directorate says UN call for nuclear-free Middle East that singled Israel out but ignored Iran is 'duplicitous, distorted'; claims it diminishes security in region
The Prime Minister's Office commented on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference's decision to note Israel as a country's whose facilities must be regulated as "fundamentally wrong and duplicitous."
Head of the National Information Directorate Nir Hefetz said Saturday that the decision disregarded the "reality in the Middle East and the genuine threats looming in the region and the entire world."
Hefetz stressed that Israel will not comply with the decision. "This decision is focusing on Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and the only country facing existential threats," he said.
"Iran, on the other hand, which openly breaches the treaty and declares its desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, is not even mentioned," Hefetz said.
According to him, "The problem of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East does not lie with Israel, but with those countries that signed the NPT and then blatantly breached it while supporting terror – Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Libya, Syria and Iran.
"Therefore, not only does the conference's decision not promote security in the region, it diminishes it," Hefetz said.
In New York on Friday, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's 189 signatory nations proposed new steps towards disarmament and making the Middle East free of atomic weapons.
Diplomats approved a document that laid out action plans on the three pillars of the treaty -- disarmament, non-proliferation and promoting peaceful atomic energy.
The NPT called on Israel to join the treaty, which would oblige the Jewish state to do away with the nuclear weapons it is widely believed to have but does not acknowledge.
It mentioned ¨the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards.¨
Hefetz added, "As a country that has not signed the NPT, Israel is not bound by the conference's decision. Due to the decision's distorted nature, Israel will not take part in its implementation."
He said the issue will be discussed during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington this coming Tuesday.
Obama welcomed the accord but "strongly" opposed singling Israel out over talks on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East while making no mention of Iran.
"The greatest threat to proliferation in the Middle East, and to the NPT, is Iran's failure to live up to its NPT obligations," the US leader said.
AFP contributed to the report
