Thursday, July 8, 2010

US gives 'secret guarantee' to Israel

The United States has secretly given a "written guarantee" to Israel that obliges Washington to sell Israel nuclear fission materials, Israeli sources say.

The materials will be used to "produce electricity," Israeli Army radio, which is an official Israeli news source, reported.

Washington has also vowed to "publicly announce" that Israel is a responsible entity and can "contain its capabilities."

Former US President Jimmy Carter has said Israel has between 200 and 300 nuclear warheads. A former Israeli scientist at Israel's Dimona nuclear site, Mordechai Vanunu, as well as aerial footage and decades of recurrent reporting have reaffirmed the possession.

The US has always supported Israel's policy of "nuclear ambiguity," in line with which Tel Aviv would neither confirm nor deny having the firepower.

Israel sensed a breach in the partnership two months ago when Washington supported an Egyptian proposal to hold a regional conference in 2012 on a nuclear-free Middle East.

The White House, however, said on Wednesday that US President Barack Obama had vowed to shield Israel from being "singled out" at neither the Egyptian-proposed meeting nor a September gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where the issue of Israel's nuclear weapons is expected to be top on the agenda, Reuters reported.

"We strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the region that it's in, and the threats that are leveled against us — against it, that Israel has unique security requirements," Obama as well noted.

Source

No comments:

Post a Comment