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7th April 2010, 11:27 AM
The prime minister will be accompanied by Shaul Horev, director-general of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, and National Security Council head Uzi Arad.
Although the conference is an attempt to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, and to keep this material – believed to be enough to build more than 100,000 nuclear bombs – out of the hands of terrorist organizations, it will inevitably also focus on Iran.
As such, another of the arguments in favor of attending was that Netanyahu should be at a forum where critical decisions might be made on Iran – perhaps regarding what types of sanctions to impose on the country if it does not halt its nuclear march.
Also, Netanyahu has been one of the leading voices in recent years calling for concerted international action to keep nuclear material out of the hands of non-state actors such as terrorist organizations – the main theme of the summit.
On the other side of the pro-con ledger, one main argument against participation was that Netanyahu’s presence at an international forum dealing with nuclear issues would inevitably draw attention to Israel’s own reported nuclear arsenal, as well as its policy of ambiguity on whether it has nuclear weapons.
Countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia will certainly – as they do regularly at international nuclear forums – shine the spotlight on Israel and a perceived imbalance: Why is the world so keen on stopping Iran’s nuclear development program, but silent in the face of Israel’s reported nuclear arsenal?
One government official said Netanyahu’s decision to attend, despite this likely scenario, had been made because key issues affecting Israel would be discussed there, and it was important for the Jewish state’s voice to be heard – as well as the realization that Israel’s reported nuclear capacity would be an issue whether Netanyahu participated in the meeting or not.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=172532
:D
Although the conference is an attempt to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, and to keep this material – believed to be enough to build more than 100,000 nuclear bombs – out of the hands of terrorist organizations, it will inevitably also focus on Iran.
As such, another of the arguments in favor of attending was that Netanyahu should be at a forum where critical decisions might be made on Iran – perhaps regarding what types of sanctions to impose on the country if it does not halt its nuclear march.
Also, Netanyahu has been one of the leading voices in recent years calling for concerted international action to keep nuclear material out of the hands of non-state actors such as terrorist organizations – the main theme of the summit.
On the other side of the pro-con ledger, one main argument against participation was that Netanyahu’s presence at an international forum dealing with nuclear issues would inevitably draw attention to Israel’s own reported nuclear arsenal, as well as its policy of ambiguity on whether it has nuclear weapons.
Countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia will certainly – as they do regularly at international nuclear forums – shine the spotlight on Israel and a perceived imbalance: Why is the world so keen on stopping Iran’s nuclear development program, but silent in the face of Israel’s reported nuclear arsenal?
One government official said Netanyahu’s decision to attend, despite this likely scenario, had been made because key issues affecting Israel would be discussed there, and it was important for the Jewish state’s voice to be heard – as well as the realization that Israel’s reported nuclear capacity would be an issue whether Netanyahu participated in the meeting or not.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=172532
:D