The United Nations General Assembly First Committee passed a resolution on Friday that demands Israel dispose of all nuclear weapons and placed its nuclear sites under the aegis of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
The annual resolution “on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East” submitted this year by Egypt noted that Israel is the only Middle East nation which has not signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT).
It made no mention of Syria’s attempts to acquire nuclear capability; nor did it mention Iran, a country well on the way to developing nuclear weapons and which categorically, repeatedly has stated its intention of “wiping Israel off the map” and supports numerous terrorist proxies throughout the region.
Ironically, Iran is a member of the NPT.
Although Israel has never officially acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons, the Jewish State is believed to be one of just nine nations in the world who have them.
The resolution clearly targeted Israel. It reaffirmed the “importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive international atomic Energy Nancy safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East.”
It called on Israel to “accede to the Treaty without further delay” and demanded that Israel not “develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons. . . renounce possession of nuclear weapons and . . .place all its unsafe guarded nuclear facilities under the scope of Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step toward enhancing peace and security.”
The resolution was sponsored by the Palestinian Authority along with 19 other nations – including Abraham Accords members Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as peace treaty “partner” Jordan.
The sole five nations who opposed the resolution included Israel herself, the United States, Canada, Micronesia and Palau. European Union member states were among the 24 countries out of a total of 193 who abstained.
In addition to a vote on the resolution, the First Committee also held a vote on a call for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Israel was the sole opponent of the text, with the United States, Cameron, Comoros and Tanzania abstaining. Iran was among the 170 member states who approved the call.
