Canada backs Israel at UN nuclear conference

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, February 2014 FILE PHOTO

Canada joined the United States and the United Kingdom to block a move at the United Nations aimed at forcing Israel to reveal its alleged nuclear weapons arsenal.

A document advanced by Egypt at the UN review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York would have required Israel to acknowledge it is a nuclear power. Israel, which is not a signatory to the treaty, has adopted a policy of ambiguity regarding its nuclear capability.

According to a news release from the Prime Minister’s Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “thanked Canada for its principled approach on the issue of a Middle East weapons of mass destruction-free zone.

“Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation, including within the framework of the NPT. He also stressed Canada’s belief that a weapons of mass destruction-free zone can only be truly effective if all countries in the Middle East participate freely and constructively in its establishment,” the release stated.

Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson said Canada’s position “sends a strong message about Canada’s resolve not to compromise the integrity of a treaty to which we remain fully and deeply committed.”

And in New York, Lynne Yelich, minister of state (foreign affairs and consular), singled out Iran, North Korea and Syria as the main threats to the international non-proliferation regime. She also asserted that Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the moves it was making to destabilize Ukraine violated security guarantees it had given Ukraine to prompt it to give up its nuclear weapons.

Support for the Canadian position on the Egyptian proposal also came from its political opponents. Canadian Press reported that former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy said the Egyptian move was designed to embarrass Israel and was unrealistic.

South of the border, the Wall Street Journal reported that Netanyahu called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to thank the United States for blocking the proposed meeting.

“The United States kept its commitment to Israel by preventing a Middle East resolution that would single out Israel and ignore its security interests,”  an unnamed senior Israeli official is quoted as saying.

The United States has backed Israel’s policy of nuclear ambiguity since the 1970s, the Wall Street Journal noted. And the Israeli official  said the United States had long vowed not to support a Mideast conference without Israel’s consent. 

The paper noted that the U.S. move came as the two countries disagreed over a pending multilateral deal with Iran, which Israel fears will leave that country’s nuclear program intact as sanctions are lifted.

U.S. President Barack Obama visited a Washington-area synagogue recently in a move widely seen as an attempt to woo Jewish Americans to support the Iran deal.

U.S. officials told the Journal the administration’s backing of Israel’s position demonstrates it takes seriously Israel’s security concerns.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) supported the Canadian position.

“It is entirely consistent with Canada’s long-standing policy of not allowing international agencies to be hijacked to advance a parochial anti-Israel agenda,” said CIJA CEO Shimon Fogel.

“Canada is in good company with the United States and the United Kingdom,” he continued. “That would suggest there is merit to that position and it’s not simply a case of a knee-jerk Canadian defence of Israel.”

The UN’s 2015 review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was held in New York City as part of a five-year review of the treaty’s operation.

The objective of the NPT, among other things, is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and achieve nuclear disarmament.

The review conference agenda included a look at regional disarmament, non-proliferation and implementation of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, which calls for making the region a nuclear weapons-free zone. 

In Ottawa, Israel’s Ambassador Rafael Barak thanked the government of Canada “for its principled stand at the NPT Review Conference.

“In order to find an outcome to questions raised at the conference, it is necessary that any negotiation would only be dealt with by the countries in the region.  As well, talks should include all types of weapons of mass destruction and no decisions should be imposed, but determined by consensus.

“Once again, Canada has shown its principled foreign policy and continues to act in a way that is guided by the understanding that what is right, is right,” the ambassador stated.