Israel Rejects Arab Proposal for Nuke-Free Mideast

Israel has condemned a plan approved by the 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move toward banning nuclear arms from the Middle East, calling it "deeply flawed and hypocritical." The NPT member states (Israel is not one of them) agreed yesterday to have a conference in 2012 on the establishment of a Mideast zone free of nuclear weapons.

This Arab idea is designed to pressure Israel to give up its undeclared nuclear arsenal. Jerusalem today denounced the resolution, saying it sets back regional security. Israel said it is singled out while "the terrorist regime in Iran, which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and which openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not even mentioned." (More Israel stories.)