CAIRO — In contradiction with his calls for nuclear-free world, US President Barack Obama has given Israel guarantees to maintain its nuclear ambiguity policy to skip international inspection of its nuclear facilities. "What this means is that the president gave commitments that politically he had no choice but to give regarding Israel's nuclear program," a Senate staffer told the Washington Times Friday, October 2, on condition of anonymity.
US official said Obama gave Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu during their first meeting in May guarantees that he will keep a four-decade-old secret understanding between the US and Israel over its nuclear program.
(Under this agreement,) the United States passively accepting Israel's nuclear weapons status as long as Israel does not unveil publicly its capability or test a weapon," said Avner Cohen, Israeli writer specialized in the history of the Israeli nuclear program.
The guarantees contradict with Obama’s call for establishing a nuclear-free world.
Terming them the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War, Obama last April called for a world without nuclear weapons.
But Netanyahu affirmed he got the guarantees from Obama to exclude Israel from his calls.
"I want to remind you that in my first meeting with President Obama in Washington I received from him, and I asked to receive from him, an itemized list of the strategic understandings that have existed for many years between Israel and the United States on that issue," Netanyahu has told Israeli Channel 2.
"It was not for naught that I requested, and it was not for naught that I received that document."
Israel is believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with experts saying it has no less than 200 nuclear warheads.
Israel has long declined to confirm or deny having nuclear bomb as part of a strategic ambiguity policy.
A declassified British documents has showed London helped Israel obtain its nuclear bomb 40 years ago.
Double Standards
The Senate staffer said this agreement puts Obama's nuclear-free world calls into question.
"However, it calls into question virtually every part of the president's non-proliferation agenda," he told the Times.
"The president gave Israel an NPT treaty get out of jail free card."
US intelligence agencies routinely omit Israel from semiannual reports to Congress identifying countries developing weapons of mass destruction to protect it from any economic or military sanctions.
David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said that Obama has made too much concessions to Israel.
"One hopes that the price for such concessions is Israeli agreement to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and an acceptance of the long-term goal of a Middle East weapons-of-mass-destruction-free zone," he said.
"Otherwise, the Obama administration paid too much, given its focus on a world free of nuclear weapons."
Source: IslamOnline
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