U.S. says Israel must give up nukes
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/560278.html

The State Department Saturday called on Israel to forswear nuclear weapons
and accept international Atomic Energy Agency safeguards on all nuclear
activities.

This is the second time in about two weeks that officials in the Bush
administration are putting the nuclear weapons of Israel, India and Pakistan
on a par.

The officials called on the three to act like Ukraine and South Africa,
which in the last decade renounced their nuclear weapons.

The similar phrasing used by the officials refers to Israel's military
nuclear capability, as distinct from "nuclear option," which is to be rolled
back, although not necessarily in the "foreseeable future."

The rare use of these terms contradicts the custom of senior administration
officials to avoid any possible confirming reference to Israeli nuclear
weapons.

The officials, who hold middle-level and lower ranks, are Jackie Wolcott
Sanders, ambassador, Conference on Disarmament and special representative of
the president for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Mark
Fitzpatrick, acting deputy assistant secretary for nonproliferation.

Sanders was quoted Saturday in the State Department's Electronic Journal,
published ahead of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference
scheduled in New York at the beginning of May.

Fitzpatrick spoke on March 17 at a security conference of the Organization
of American States (OAS).

On March 7 President George Bush called for a strengthening of the NPT
regime and thwarting the efforts of rogue states and terrorists to obtain
weapons of mass destruction. Bush devoted his statement to enforcing NPT
clauses on treaty regime members (like North Korea and Iran) and ignored
non-member states (India, Pakistan, Israel and Cuba).

In the past six years, since the Wye conference in 1998, presidents Clinton
and Bush repeatedly promised then prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and
Ehud Barak and also Ariel Sharon that Israel's strategic capability to
protect itself will not be harmed.

Israeli experts on Bush's nuclear policy say that the president is focusing
on objecting to the nuclear process of North Korea and Iran, and even
approves aid to India - in nuclear energy among other things - and to
Pakistan (selling F-16 planes), while far lower ranks abound with verbal
formulas to excuse the withdrawal of the NPT regime during the Bush era.

Sanders and Fitzpatrick refrained from calling on Israel, India and Pakistan
explicitly to renounce their weapons. The expectation of these three states
was phrased in terms of a vow - a verbal pledge to forswear, rather than
real action. Nor was this demand accompanied by a time table, conditions and
sanctions.

An official known for his sympathy for Israel, Robert Joseph, has been
nominated undersecretary of state for arms control and international
security, and has been serving in a similar position on the staff of the
National Security Council. His predecessor in the post is UN
ambassador-designate John Bolton, also known for his sympathy for Israel.

Sanders and Fitzpatrick hold more junior ranks in the administration.

In her statement Saturday Sanders said: "The Conference should also
reinforce the goal of universal NPT adherence and reaffirm that India,
Israel and Pakistan may join the NPT only as non-nuclear-weapon states. Just
as South Africa and Ukraine did in the early 1990s, these states should
forswear nuclear weapons and accept IAEA safeguards on all nuclear
activities to join the treaty. At the same time, we recognize that progress
toward universal adherence is not likely in the foreseeable future. The
United States continues to support the goals of the Middle East resolution
adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, including the
achievement of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction."

According to the Israeli experts, the American administration does not want
to expand nuclear proliferation to additional states in the region and
agrees that in time it would be preferable to have the Middle East nuclear
free, but disagrees with the immediate adoption of a policy which would
prevent American forces like the Sixth Fleet ships and airplanes from
carrying nuclear warheads in bombs and missiles as well.

This is the seventh time that the Review Conference is convening, to mark
the 35th year of the NPT's establishment. The conference, held every five
years, will end at the end of May, shortly before the IAEA governing council
meets in Vienna in June to elect a director general. The U.S. has not
decided yet whether to support incumbent IAEA Director General, Mohammed
ElBaradei for another term.