Obama plans to toss Israel under the bus on Mideast "nuclear-free zone"

Washington and Cairo are negotiating an agreement which would see the Middle East become a nuclear-free zone, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. According to the report, which comes two days ahead of a UN-hosted conference to prevent nuclear proliferation, the agreement is aimed at making the treatment of nuclear weapons in the Middle East more balanced. The US has been criticized in the past for expressing concern over the suspected nuclear ambitions of countries such as Syria and Iran with nary a mention of Israel's reported nuclear arsenal.

The Wall Street Journal quoted senior Obama administration officials as saying that the US officials would meet with their Egyptian counterparts in New York in efforts to promote the idea of a nuke-free Middle East which would encompass Arab countries as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey.

"We've made a proposal to them that goes beyond what the US has been willing to do before," one official reportedly said. Others added that progress would have to be made on the Israeli-Palestinian track before such an agreement could be made.

"We are concerned that the conditions are not right unless all members of the region participate, which would be unlikely unless there is a comprehensive peace plan which is accepted," the Wall Street Journal quoted Ellen Tauscher, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, as saying.

Tags: NPT, Obama, nuclear free zone

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of Israel Insider to add comments!

Join Israel Insider

Comment by Zarthustra on May 2, 2010 at 8:38am: Your arguments and diatribes are ringing more and more hollow and superficial.

Z

Comment by RonaldH on May 1, 2010 at 10:30pm: 'Washington and Cairo are negotiating an agreement which would see the Middle East become a nuclear-free zone,'
The Obama presidency has to be the worst ever! Are we college sophomores now? The US is NOT in the Middle East. Egypt does not posses nuclear weapons. Neither do ANY Arab nations. Yet the US and Egypt are 'negotiating' about a nuke-free Middle East! Isn't there a requirement to have some REAL standing within the dispute to actually negotiate? Israel is the one nation that has a true interest in the presence of nuclear weapons in the region and they are 'missing' from the discussion. The fact that US taxpayers are footing the bill for this absurd 'negotiation' proves that we are not getting our moneys worth from our government.
Let's get REAL for a change. Israel needs a nuclear weapons option to protect themselves from an enemy which vastly outnumbers them. End of debate. Is this really a disputable issue? It is true that Israel has acquitted herself well with conventional weapons in the past, but NO ONE can say that will be true in the future. Therefore, I really don't believe any government of Israel would consider putting limits on her nuclear arsenal.