Washington negotiator calls on Israel to sign nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty
Julian Borger
6 May 2009
guardian.co.uk
[Change of US policy on Israel’s nuclear weapons – or slip of the tongue?]
A diplomatic row broke out today between the US and Israel after Washington’s chief nuclear arms negotiator called on Israel to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty, breaking a US tradition of discretion over Israel’s nuclear arsenal. …
Israeli officials said they were puzzled by a speech to an international conference in New York by Rose Gottemoeller, an assistant secretary of state, who said: “Universal adherence to the NPT itself – including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea – also remains a fundamental objective of the United States.”
By including Israel on a list of countries known to have nuclear weapons. Gottemoeller broke with normal US diplomatic practice. Since 1968 when the CIA reported Israel had developed a nuclear weapon , Washington has pursued a policy of not demanding transparency from its close ally, and in return Israel agreed not to test a bomb or declare its nuclear capability – a policy of “strategic ambiguity”.
“As far as we are concerned, there is no change to the close dialogue we have with Washington,” Yossi Levy, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman …
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/06/israel-us-nuclear-non-proliferation
