PM praises defeat of Arab-backed resolution on Israel at IAEA

Netanyahu says vote a rejection of Arab states’ attempt to isolate Israel, distract from Iran nukes; FM hails ‘victory for Israeli diplomacy’

By ToI Staff and AP 25 September 2014, 9:54 pm

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference at his office in Jerusalem on August 27, 2014. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the decision Thursday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states to reject a resolution circulated by Arab countries criticizing Israel over its alleged nuclear arsenal, and urging it to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Nations meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference voted 58-45 against the resolution on Thursday, while 27 abstained.

“The vote is a rejection of a repeated attempt by Arab states to condemn and isolate Israel at the IAEA and to distract the international community from the pressing problems affecting the Middle East, first and foremost Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said, according to Ynet.

The prime minister’s remarks followed a similar statement by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman who also hailed the IAEA decision.

Liberman said the defeat of the bid was a “victory for Israeli diplomacy.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman speaks with the press before entering the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, June 1, 2014. (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash 90)

In a Facebook message posted Thursday, the foreign minister warned the Arab countries who submitted the resolution to think about what the regional situations would be if Syria has suceeded in completing the construction of a nuclear reactor — allegedly bombed by Israel in 2007 — which could now possibly be in the hands of the Islamic State or the Nusra Front.

Backed by 18 Arab states, including Syria, the resolution expressed concern “about the Israeli nuclear capabilities,” urging Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and put its nuclear facilities under international oversight. Israel has never acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons.

On Wednesday, Arab countries circulated the resolution that singled out Israel. The draft echoed previous such resolutions at annual meetings of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

Separately, the UN conference voted 117-0, with 13 abstentions, in favor of a resolution submitted by Egypt that called on “all states in the region” to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.