Only a handful of countries supported Israel’s right to nuclear self-defense in a recent U.N. vote.
The U.N. General Assembly considered a resolution Wednesday calling for Israel not to develop, produce, test, or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons.
Additionally, the resolution called for the Jewish nation to “renounce possession of nuclear weapons” and to assent to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty, thereby placing “all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy safeguards.”
149 nations voted in favor of the resolution. Only six voted against it.
What are the details?
The U.N. general assembly demanded that Israel agree to “accede to the [Middle Eastern nuclear non-proliferation] Treaty without further delay, and not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce their possession and to place all its unsafeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.”
Israel, India, Pakistan, and South Sudan have not signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty.
Israel has never formally acknowledged possessing nukes. However, former President Jimmy Carter told MSNBC in 2014 that Israel has “300 or more” nuclear warheads, and leaked emails from former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated the nation had at least 200 nukes in its arsenal.
The resolution calling for Israel’s disarmament was advanced by Palestine and various other countries including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the six nations that opposed the resolution were Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Palau, the U.S., and Liberia.
Ukraine, which voted with the Palestinians against Israel on another resolution in November, was among the 26 nations that abstained from the resolution.