UN General Assembly votes Israel must renounce possession of its nuclear weapons

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The United Nations General Assembly has again voted overwhelmingly that, even though Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear weapons, Israel must give up any atomic bombs it has and give the International Atomic Energy Agency access to inspect its nuclear sites, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The annual resolution was submitted by Egypt to UNGA’s First Committee on Friday and was approved by a 152-5 vote.

The UNGA resolution points out that Israel is one of the few 193 UN member states and one of nine countries believed to have nuclear weapons, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The resolution emphasizes “the importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive international atomic Energy Nancy safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East.”

Accordingly, the resolution calls on Israel “to accede to the Treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons, and to place all of its unsafeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all states in the region and as a step towards strengthening peace and security.”

While Iran has signed the NPT, it is understood to be close to producing at least one nuclear bomb. No mention of Iran was made in the resolution concerning Israel.

The five countries which opposed the resolution were: Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Palau, and the United States, JPost said. A further 24 countries abstained, including European Union member states.

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