Last update - 00:00 25/09/2007
Documents show Israel lobbying to import nuclear material
By The Associated Press
Israel is looking to a U.S.-India nuclear deal to expand its own ties to suppliers, quietly lobbying for an exemption from nonproliferation rules so it can legally import atomic material, according to documents made available Tuesday to The Associated Press.
The move is sure to raise concerns among Arab nations already considering their neighbor the region's atomic arms threat. Israel has never publicly acknowledged having nuclear weapons, but is generally considered to possess them.
The new push is reflected in papers Israel presented earlier this year to the Nuclear Suppliers' Group - 45 nations that export nuclear fuel and technology under strict rules meant to lessen the dangers of proliferation and trafficking in materials that could be used for a weapons program.
The initiative appeared to be linked to a U.S.-India agreement that would effectively waive the group's rules by allowing the United States to supply India with nuclear fuel despite its refusal both to sign the nonproliferation treaty and allowing the IAEA to inspect all of its nuclear facilities.
Israeli officials began examining how their country could profit from that deal as early as last year, at one point proposing that the U.S. ask for an exemption from restrictions stipulating safeguards by the U.N. nuclear agency on all nuclear facilities, said a diplomat. The U.S. rejected that request, he said, demanding anonymity for discussing restricted information.
Still, the documents show that Israel has not given up its quest.
Under a cover letter labeled confidential, the two papers - titled Israel's Credentials in Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Safety and Security, and Toward a Criteria Based Approach for Nuclear Collaboration with Non-NPT States - were circulated among the group March 19 by Japan, whose mission to Vienna's International Atomic Energy Agency serves as the liaison office for the group.
Among the hurdles still to be cleared before the U.S.-India pact becomes reality is NSG approval of a special exemption for India from group restrictions. Critics have warned that the deal, if it goes through, will deal a blow to efforts to contain the spread of nuclear arms by effectively rewarding a country that has developed nuclear weapons while evading the nonproliferation pact.
Besides India, only Pakistan and North Korea are known to have nuclear weapons and be outside the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. But Israel is considered an undeclared weapons state; its doctrine of nuclear ambiguity - never formally confirming or denying that it has such weapons - is meant to scare potential enemies from considering an annihilating attack while denying them the rationale for developing their own nuclear deterrent.
In the paper proposing a list of criteria to be used by NSG countries for Nuclear Collaboration with non-NPT States, Israel inadvertently appeared to touch on the debate over its own status, saying one condition should be application of stringent physical protection, control, and accountancy measures to all nuclear weapons ... in its territory.
The other document, meant to outline Israel's commitment to the global non-proliferation regime, urges the international community at large and NSG
Member States in particular to cooperate with non-NPT states with strong non-proliferation credentials in the supply of (nuclear) know-how and equipment.
The diplomat, who is familiar with the issue, said the Israeli papers were acknowledged but definitely not embraced by the NSG member nations.
The NSG is expected to consider a U.S. proposal later this year lifting restrictions on trade with India as an offshoot of the U.S. exemptions for individual countries from nonproliferation rules and standards, he said.
The most recent tensions over Israel's nuclear capabilities surfaced at the IAEA's 148-nation general conference. On Thursday, the Vienna meeting's penultimate day, only the U.S. and Israel voted against a critical resolution implicitly aimed at the Jewish State for refusing to put its nuclear program under international purview.