Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed a decision Thursday by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states to reject a resolution circulated by Arab League countries criticizing Israel over its alleged nuclear arsenal and urging it to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty and ‘’put its nuclear facilities under international oversight.’’
Israel has never acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons.
58 countries voted against the text and 45 states for. 27 abstained. The representatives of many nations chose not to attend the vote.
For the last three months Israel's foreign ministry and the Israel's nuclear agency made a global diplomatic effort to foil the Arab nations' efforts. All of Israel's diplomatic missions worldwide were conscripted for the task, and Israeli ambassadors raised the issue to the highest officials in their respective countries.
“The vote is a rejection of a repeated attempt by Arab states to condemn and isolate Israel at the IAEA and to distract the international community from the pressing problems affecting the Middle East, first and foremost Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also hailed the IAEA decision, saying that the defeat of the bid was a “victory for Israeli diplomacy.”