Nukewatch Quarterly Spring 2015
NEW YORK—In December, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution calling on Israel to renounce its nuclear weapons and place its nuclear facilities under international oversight. Titled, “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,” the resolution passed 161 to five. The US and Canada were among the four countries that joined Israel in opposition to the measure.
Israel is widely understood to possess about 200 nuclear weapons, but refuses to confirm its nuclear status. It is also the only Middle Eastern country that is not part of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The resolution called on Israel to “accede to that treaty without further delay” and “not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons.” It also asked Israel to put its nuclear facilities under the oversight of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
Resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not legally binding, but they do carry moral and political weight as they represent decisions that include all 193 UN member states.
—AP, Dec. 2, 2015
Leave a Reply