Israel denounces call for Middle East nuclear conference

AFP - Israel on Saturday denounced as "hypocritical" a UN resolution by members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty calling for a conference on a nuclear-free Middle East and said it would not participate.

"This resolution is deeply flawed and hypocritical. It ignores the realities of the Middle East and the real threats facing the region and the entire world," said a statement issued by the Israeli government in Toronto, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Canada.

"It singles out Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and the only country threatened with annihilation," the statement added.

"Given the distorted nature of this resolution, Israel will not be able to take part in its implementation."

The Jewish state has reacted furiously to the agreement reached Friday at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, which called for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.

The accord specifically mentions "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards."

But it failed to make similar reference to other nations including India and Pakistan that, like Israel, are non-members of the treaty and are either known or believed to possess nuclear weapons.

The text also made no mention of Iran, which faces a new round of United Nations sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment as part of a nuclear program that many in the international community fear masks a nuclear weapons drive. Tehran says the program is for civilian nuclear energy only.

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but it maintains a policy of refusing to deny or acknowledge its nuclear arsenal.

The deal agreed by the treaty's 189 signatories, their first in a decade, also includes commitments to advance non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and peaceful nuclear energy.

President Barack Obama said Friday he supported those goals, but he criticized the agreement for its focus on Israel.

"We strongly oppose efforts to single out Israel, and will oppose actions that jeopardize Israel's national security," he said.

Netanyahu is expected to discuss the accord with Obama during meetings in the United States on Tuesday.