The Arab absurdity
The ink has not yet dried on the 159-page nuclear agreement with Iran, and already Arab states are rushing to demand international inspection of Israel's suspected nuclear facilities. The Arab League is also seeking to compel Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, based on experts' assumptions that Israel possesses a substantial depot of atomic bombs.
Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama stymied Egyptian efforts to raise Israel's alleged nuclear conduct to the international agenda, and it looked as though we would have five years of quiet after that, but no. The Arab League is renewing its demand at a unique time, raising the question: In light of their disappointment with the Iran nuclear deal and the Americans' weakness, could the possibility of Israel being a nuclear power actually serve the interests of the Arab states that are complaining about it?
Israel's nuclear activity, if it in fact exists, counters Iran's growing power as a threat to regional states and their international maritime routes. If authorized representatives of each of the Arab League nations could talk to Israel, they would probably whisper that they welcome the possibility that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, because under particularly dire circumstances, it could serve as the single most effective deterrent to ward off the Iranian ayatollahs.
Arab governments are bound by rhetoric that does not accurately reflect their interests. In practice, it may be in their best interests to create a unified bloc, including Israel and possibly Turkey at some point down the line, to ward off Iran's expansion efforts. But because of their commitment to an anti-Israel lexicon, they make declarations that run contrary to their actual interests.
One of their demands reaches the point of absurdity. They want to force Israel to join the non-proliferation treaty, but Iran has been a signatory of the treaty for years, and if the Iranian signature had any value there would be no need for the agreement that was reached this week. After all, they have made previous commitments not to manufacture nuclear weapons, so this signature is meaningless.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a letter this week from attorney Itai Mack, on behalf of the Israeli Disarmament Movement, seeking legislation that would regulate the status of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, established by David Ben-Gurion after the establishment of the state, which has been functioning well, and in secret, ever since. Ostensibly, it seems the natural thing to do. But in reality it could destroy Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity. Careful, the secret of the Dimona reactor is out.
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