President Barack Obama and senior US officials deplored Israel's mention in the resolution passed by the 189 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty members Friday, May 29, which called for a Middle East nuclear-free conference in two years: "We strongly oppose efforts to single out Israel," said Obama, "and will oppose actions that jeopardize Israel's national security."
Leading the US delegation, National Security Adviser James Jones said the failure of the resolution to mention Iran, "which poses the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation in the region and to the integrity of the NPT, is also deplorable."
Iran's chief delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the Americans should "think twice" before making such statements. "This was not the right reaction to a positive response, positive measure by our delegation joining the consensus," he said.
The US had "serious reservations" about the 2012 Middle East conference, said Jones. Its attendance would be voluntary "when all countries feel confident that they can attend," and the singling out of Israel by calling on the Jewish state to join the NPT and submit to UN safeguards placed the prospects of the 2012 conference "in doubt."
The US moreover insists on a peace agreement between Israel and its neighbors being put in place before it is required to take steps on its unconfirmed nuclear arsenal.
The 28-page statement by the NPT members called on all Middle Eastern states to attend a conference due to be held in 2012.
It also went on to highlight "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards."
Israel said Saturday that it has no intention to fulfill the decision of the Review Conference to the NPT, which calls on it to allow international inspection at its nuclear installations.
"This resolution is deeply flawed and hypocritical," an official statement by the Prime Minister's Bureau read.
"It singles out Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and the only country threatened with annihilation. Yet the terrorist regime in Iran, which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not even mentioned in the resolution. The real problem with weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East does not relate to Israel but to those countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ) and brazenly violated it - Iraq under Sadaam, Libya, Syria and Iran."
Despite signing the agreement, Washington has sharply criticized mentioning Tel Aviv in the statement.
sources in Jerusalem expressed disappointed over U.S. conduct on the matter. A senior Israeli official described the American behavior as "surrender and bowing to pressure."
The senior official said Israel has held intensive exchanges with the U.S. in recent days in an effort to foil the anti-Israel initiative, but the Americans chose to make a statement that fits the international consensus, even though this went against Israeli interests.
"We have explained to the Americans over and over that preserving Israel's security is the most basic precondition for progress in the peace process," said a senior Israeli official. "This decision will make it difficult for us to do this."
Haaretz reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask for clarifications about the U.S. position on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday.
A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu will ask Obama for American guarantees to block any practical measures, including an international conference on the matter