Syria: West Turns ‘Blind Eye’ to Israeli Nuclear Program

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jafari, attacked Israel at a U.N. General Assembly session over the weekend, calling Israel’s alleged nuclear program “dangerous for the Middle East. The West is responsible for supplying nuclear technology to Israel, including German submarines that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads that were given to Israel for free. The entire world is ignoring Israel’s nuclear capabilities,” he said.

The entire world is concerned about nuclear proliferation, and this should include concern about Israel as well — but somehow it does not, al-Jafari said. Syria, he continued, has signed onto the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Pact, and in 2003 recommended to the U.N. that all countries in the region do so at the U.N. Security Council — but the proposal was vetoed by the United States. “This shows that the commitment of the West to turn the Middle East into a nuclear-free zone is a lie,” al-Jafari said.

According to al-Jafari, the Syrian News Agency said, “Israel’s lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency provisos, its continuing development of its military nuclear capability without any international oversight, and its disregard for demands to make the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction undermine the integrity of the non-proliferation treaty and pose a threat to the security and stability of the Middle East.”