Nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East – First Cttee debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-first session

First Committee

10th meeting

Monday, 21 October 1996, 3 p.m.

New York

President:  Mr. Alyaksandr Sychou …………………….(Belarus)

The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m.

Agenda items 60 to 81 (continued)

General debate on all disarmament and international security items

/…

Mr. Tayeb (Saudi Arabia) (interpretation from Arabic):…

/…

In our region, the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates and Djibouti have acceded to the NPT. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Oman announced at the current session of the General Assembly his country’s decision to accede to the Treaty soon. Thus, all Middle Eastern countries, have become parties to the NPT, with the exception of Israel, which has so far refused to accede.

Moreover, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on 8 July 1996 on the Legality of the Threat or the Use of Nuclear Weapons. The Court decided unanimously that all States are obligated to pursue in good faith negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control. The Court’s opinion should remove any doubt about the nature of the commitment of the States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Indeed the Treaty affirms not only affirms the responsibility to continue negotiations in good faith, as some have asserted, but also commits all parties to conclude negotiations leading to complete nuclear disarmament in all its aspects.

As we see, many regions around the world have succeeded in establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones as a result of cooperation among the States in those regions and their awareness of the need for peaceful coexistence. However, despite international and regional efforts, the Middle East is still unable to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone. This is due to Israel’s refusal to cooperate, despite numerous United Nations resolutions that, since 1974, have called for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon- free zone in the Middle East. Among them are General Assembly resolution 50/66, Security Council resolution 487 (1981) and Security Council resolution 687 (1991) whose paragraph 14 states that conforming to section (c) of the resolution represents an important step towards the goal of establishing in the Middle East a zone free from nuclear weapons as well as the means of their delivering.

Despite all those resolutions, no practical steps have been taken to implement them because of Israel’s refusal to do so. Although Israel pretends to support the idea of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone, it has not yet taken any practical steps in that direction. Israel refuses to accede to the NPT and to submit its nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Thus, Israel is the only country in the Middle East that possesses nuclear facilities not subject to IAEA safeguards. This state of affairs represents a serious danger to the safety and security of the entire region. Moreover, Israel refuses to respond to the will of the international community by continuously trying to keep the issue outside the United Nations, in the same manner that it keeps the United Nations outside the peace process, even though it was the United Nations that was responsible for establishing the State of Israel, by resolution 181 (II) of 1947.

All such efforts by Israel aim at avoiding the implementation of United Nations resolutions and at the continuation of its military and nuclear programmes outside international supervision. The goal is hegemony and the spread of nuclear terror in the region.

The States of the Middle East had hoped that the peace process that started in Madrid in 1991 would encourage Israel to respond to international and regional concerns regarding nuclear weapons in the Middle East. A Working Group was established within the framework of the multilateral peace negotiations to deal with armaments and security in the region, including nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. However, within that Group, Israel took a negative position on issues related to nuclear weapons. It refused to declare its intention to accede to the NPT and to place its installations under the IAEA safeguards system even after achievement of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East, thus undermining the concept of confidence-building among the States in the region. This negative and intransigent attitude by Israel in the multilateral negotiations has made it impossible for the Group to make any tangible progress.

It is ironic that while Israel’s response to the Secretary-General concerning the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East states that the “Middle East Multilateral Working Group on Arms Control and Regional Security … is the most promising forum to pursue the negotiations between the parties.” (A/51/286, p. 5, para. 8). It insists, in the course of negotiations within that Group, on refusing to deal with nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. It is indeed regrettable that, despite the existence of an international consensus and a strong regional desire to make the Middle East a nuclear-weapon-free zone, Israel remains an obstacle to the realization by the peoples of the region of their aspiration to live in peace, free from nuclear terror. For these reasons, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia requests the international community and the Security Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that Israel accedes to the NPT and that it places all of its nuclear facilities under the international safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). By acceding to the NPT, Israel would help pave the way for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, which would have a great impact on efforts towards the creation of a world free from nuclear weapons. We are hopeful that the work of the Committee will achieve its objectives through the adoption of resolutions that deal with this important issue and by proposing practical solutions aimed at realizing the dream of the peoples of the Middle East to live in a secure environment free from nuclear terror.

/…

Mr. Albesbas (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation from Arabic):…

/…

Regrettably, the Middle East still suffers from the spectre of nuclear terror. As members of the Committee are aware, Israel is the only nuclear Power in the region. It alone refuses to accede to the NPT or place its nuclear facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is the only impediment to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. In this regard, I should like to draw the attention of members to General Assembly resolution 50/73, which calls on Israel to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and to the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the NPT.

/…

The meeting rose at 5.15 p.m.