J'lem rejects UN call to open nuke program to probe

UNGA passes resolution calling on Israel to join Non-Proliferation Treaty; J'lem calls vote "meaningless, mechanical."

By HERB KEINON
311_dimona reactor (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
311_dimona reactor
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Israel dismissed on Tuesday a resolution passed overwhelmingly in the UN General Assembly calling on it to open its nuclear program to inspection as a “meaningless mechanical vote” void of meaning.
The resolution, which calls on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and immediately open up its nuclear facilities to inspection, was formulated 10 years ago and is brought to the General Assembly, and passed overwhelmingly year after year, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
The Assembly has lost all its credibility regarding Israel with these types of routine votes that are ensured passage by an automatic majority and which single out Israel, he said.
The resolution came just days after Israel suffered a stinging loss in the UN when the General Assembly upgraded the status of the Palestinians to that of a non-member observer state. Palmor said the two votes were not connected, and the UN vote on the NPT takes place every year in December.
The resolution passed by a vote of 174 to six, with six abstentions. Along with Israel, the US, Canada, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau voted against it.
While the US voted against the resolution, it voted for two paragraphs that were taken out for a separate vote and called for universal adherence to the NPT and for all countries who are not party to the treaty to join it at the earliest date.
Israel is not a party to the NPT. Its official policy is that it will “not be the first country to introduce weapons into the Middle East,” and that it supports a nuclear-free Middle East following the attainment of peace.