Prime Minister Netanyahu
Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski
By JPOST.COM STAFF 09/04/2010 02:19
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not attend next week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington and is sending Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor instead, Army Radio reported Thursday.
US sources informed Israel that a group of participating Arab countries led by Turkey and Egypt plan to use the summit to demand that Israel sign the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and allow its alleged nuclear capabilities to be placed under international inspection.
Previously, Jerusalem has received assurances from the US administration that it would not let the issue take over the conference, which is to focus on keeping nuclear capabilities out of the hands of terrorists, government sources said.
More than 40 world leaders will attend the conference on Monday and Tuesday.
Netanyahu characterized as a “very serious issue” the danger that “nuclear weapons, even crude nuclear weapons, could find their way into the hands of terrorists.” This, he said, would have “dire consequences” for all humanity.
A government source told Army Radio: "Israel participates in the effort to prevent nuclear technology reaching the hands of terrorists, and on this basis we agreed to take part in the summit. But reports surfacing in the last 24 hours indicated the intention of various states to assail Israel regarding the NPT. In summits of this nature, Israel is usually represented on the ministerial and professional levels. The Prime Minister has accordingly decided that Meridor will head the delegation."
In a related development, a senior government official said the government needed to convince the Obama administration that talk about the US imposing a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was counterproductive, would harden Palestinian positions, and was unrealistic because a solution could not be imposed on the sides if they didn’t agree.
The official’s comments came in response to reports on Wednesday in both The Washington Post and The New York Times that President Barack Obama was considering launching an American peace plan in the fall that would replace the step-by-step approach favored by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
US sources informed Israel that a group of participating Arab countries led by Turkey and Egypt plan to use the summit to demand that Israel sign the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and allow its alleged nuclear capabilities to be placed under international inspection.
Previously, Jerusalem has received assurances from the US administration that it would not let the issue take over the conference, which is to focus on keeping nuclear capabilities out of the hands of terrorists, government sources said.
More than 40 world leaders will attend the conference on Monday and Tuesday.
Netanyahu characterized as a “very serious issue” the danger that “nuclear weapons, even crude nuclear weapons, could find their way into the hands of terrorists.” This, he said, would have “dire consequences” for all humanity.
A government source told Army Radio: "Israel participates in the effort to prevent nuclear technology reaching the hands of terrorists, and on this basis we agreed to take part in the summit. But reports surfacing in the last 24 hours indicated the intention of various states to assail Israel regarding the NPT. In summits of this nature, Israel is usually represented on the ministerial and professional levels. The Prime Minister has accordingly decided that Meridor will head the delegation."
In a related development, a senior government official said the government needed to convince the Obama administration that talk about the US imposing a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was counterproductive, would harden Palestinian positions, and was unrealistic because a solution could not be imposed on the sides if they didn’t agree.
The official’s comments came in response to reports on Wednesday in both The Washington Post and The New York Times that President Barack Obama was considering launching an American peace plan in the fall that would replace the step-by-step approach favored by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley downplayed the idea at a briefing on Wednesday, advising journalists to steer away “from the idea that we are going to try to, at this point, impose a particular view on the parties.”
Rather, Crowley said, the idea is to have the two sides get into negotiations where they will address the core issues, and that the US “can help them” and, as has been done in the past, “offer ideas on how to bridge differences.”
Rather, Crowley said, the idea is to have the two sides get into negotiations where they will address the core issues, and that the US “can help them” and, as has been done in the past, “offer ideas on how to bridge differences.”
Crowley said the US focus right now “is getting them into the proximity talks, into negotiations, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”
No new date, meanwhile, has been set for Mitchell to return to the region and push the talks forward.
Note: Crowley says, "the U.S. can help them" and "as in the past, offer ideas on how to bridge differences." HA HA HA! Where to begin? How about this: the United States has proven itself, under this Administration - Obama, Clinton, Biden, Mitchell, etc. (I'm sure I have left out some key-players who consider themselves to be very important people) a friend of the Arabs and a friend to all Islam. So, this comment by Crowley is laughable! It is like telling Israel to trust "snakes in grass" - and this crowd I mention are all snakes! Now that we understand the Saudi Plan, the answer is "No way, Obama" - take care of America, first, before you attempt to speak for other nations. Bee Sting
