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Israel Responds to IAEA's Letter on Syria's Nuclear Site

[Wall Street Journal] Nili Lifshitz - The International Atomic Energy Agency's letter of Dec. 3 ("Probing Syria's Nuclear Project") defending the agency's record in investigating Syria is astonishing, but not surprising, Each time the agency comes under political criticism for handling of a Middle Eastern country's flagrant breaches of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or its safeguards agreement, the agency immediately resorts to publicly invoking Israel's name. Compliance with legally binding nonproliferation commitments is the cornerstone of an effective global regime. Past and present practices by four Middle Eastern countries which exploit their NPT membership to disguise the true nature of their nuclear programs have been a source of grave concern to the international community. The IAEA should take responsibility for the manner in which it has been dealing with these four countries, none of which is Israel. The claim that Israel is withholding critical information on the site is nothing but a smokescreen. Targeting Israel will not absolve IAEA of its prime duty to get to the bottom of Syria's nuclear activities. Only a different approach by the agency, one which focuses on its professional mission, will reinstate its reputation and credibility in the mission to uncover clandestine nuclear programs and effectively handle dangerous proliferation activity by rogue regimes. The writer is spokeswoman for the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
2008-12-15 09:00:00
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