Israel and Nuclear Security

Is Israel a rogue state?

I do admire Obama for organizing an unprecedented Nuclear Security conference of 48 countries, including the US. He gave a great speech at the conclusion of the conference and answered questions from the media. However, it was very disappointing when a question was asked about Israel. Obama was mum, dodged the question and started talking about what the US was going to do with its own nuclear stockpile.

The question was asked by the Washington Post reporter regarding Israel's role as it is a nuclear power, and the need for Israel to reveal to the world how much nuclear stockpile it has, how it secures it, and why it has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty. Obama was dumbfounded. It is amazing that 48 countries with the most powerful countries like China, Russia, and the US present and no definitive answer was there when it came to Israel.

Obama basically implied that Israel can speak for itself and did not want to talk about it, yet he liberally talked about India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea. THe US talks about sanctions against Iran, but would China whole-heartedly support such sanctions when it is fully aware of the US's duplicity when it comes to Israel.

Israel is truly a rogue state when it comes to nuclear stockpile. According to some estimates it has 250 nuclear warheads. For a relatively very small countries, less than half the size of the Province of Nova Scotia area wise (Nova Scotia: 20,599 sq miles and Israel 8,019 sq miles) with a population slightly more than Metro Toronto, Ontario, this is a very large number of warheads. It is a terrible unbalance of power in the Middle East especially when the US and Israel want that all the countries surrounding Israel to disarm and it states that it will invade Iran if it tries to develop nuclear weapons. Does the US or Israel have the moral authority to tell the rest of the Middle East to disarm and remain nuclear free when Israel continues to increase its stockpile of nuclear arsenal?

It is a dangerous situation in the Middle East and for the world. As long as Israel continues to build up its nuclear weaponry some Middle Eastern country is bound to get a nuclear arsenal to bring some balance to the region. In case of a war break out it will be a catastrophe simply because the US continues to ignore Israeli policy and looks the other way. Israel is the true rogue state and a powder keg for peace in the Middle East and the world.

China has strong trade ties with Iran and may never fully support US sanction especially given American hypocrisy on Israel. If world needs peace then Israel must be made accountable. It has to shed its nuclear arsenal in order to earn the trust of its neighbours and secure much needed peace in that region.

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