"Obama is Deserting Israel in Demilitarization Committee" As the US pays for its weakness before the Arab world, Israeli officials claim President Obama is deserting Israel in the committee for nuclear demilitarization. Also: Why attempts to raise IMI's market value will come at the expense of other companies Amir Rapaport 14/9/2012 http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=483&ArticleID=1645 A new source of tension between Israel and the US: Israel feels that the US is "deserting" it and is not upholding the promise given by US President Barack Obama to prevent a situation where a UN committee on Middle Eastern nuclear demilitarization will also direct demands towards Israel. This was initially revealed during a seminar on the subject of "the nuclear understandings with the US: the public dimension." The seminar was held on Wednesday at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies, with the participation of the writer of these lines, a researcher at the center, the researcher Shmuel Meir and Prof. Uzi Arad, former head of the National Security Council. The background for the new tension is a decision that was already accepted at a meeting of the review committee for supervising the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The committee is held every five years, and its last gathering took place at the start of 2010. In the framework of the review committee's discussions, which lasted for three weeks, the countries discussed the issue of a middle east without nuclear weapons and the prevention of nuclear proliferation, among other things. Pressured by Egypt and other Arab countries, the committee decided to hold a preparatory meeting towards another gathering to discuss the demilitarization of the Middle East. Israel was angry that the US did not foil the decision, in contrast to existing unwritten understandings that demilitarization would not be required from Israel so long as it does not publicly disclose its nuclear capabilities. As such, a meeting was held in Washington on July 8, 2010 between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama. At the end of the meeting, historical understandings were agreed upon, which were even anchored in an official statement by the White House. The understandings previously agreed upon in discussions between the head of Israel's National Security Council, Prof. Uzi Arad, and US National Security Advisor James Jones, included recognition of Israel's unique defense situation, and an article determining that the US would ensure weapon control initiatives would not lessen Israel's defensive strength (Prof. Arad revealed at the BESA conference that Jones was the one who initiated the anchoring of the understandings to show how the US stands firmly behind its defense relations with Israel). President Obama even said that "Israel has the right to defend itself by itself." However, it seems that promises are separate from reality. In the past months, discussions have been taking place, in which Israeli officials (from the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister's Bureau, and the Committee for Atomic Energy) expressed anger over the fact that the US is not acting to prevent the gathering of the committee. Despite the presidential promise, Ban Ki-Moon, General Secretary of the United Nations, announced on October 14, 2011 that Finland would host a conference on the topic of nuclear demilitarization of the Middle East. Debates were recently held concerning the precise date on which the committee will be held, and it is becoming apparent that it will be held at the start of 2013. A committee calling for Israel’s nuclear demilitarization at such a timing could, from Israel’s perspective, hurt the global effort to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. Israeli officials recently claimed to their US counterparts that the commitment given on July 2010 was conclusive and that the US should stand behind it. One of the concerns is that the current US position, one which does not object to the preparatory committee being carried out without exempting Israel, also stems from Washington’s anger towards Israel due to Israel’s unwillingness to commit to refraining from attacking Iran on its own, without coordinating with the US. State officials recently said that the issue is affecting the relations between Jerusalem and Washington, which are already tense. Prof. Uzi Arad said during the BESA conference that “an unwillingness to meet the commitment by President Obama will hurt the credibility of the US assurance to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons – a promise meant to prevent a unilateral Israeli assault.” Rockets from IMI Meanwhile, the efforts to privatize Israel Military Industries (IMI) are entering a high gear. The Ministries of Defense and Treasury are advancing in their negotiations with the Histadrut and the employee committee towards a potential tender for privatizing the company as one business unit (possible contenders: Elbit Systems and the Sami Katsav Group). The Ministry of Defense is working to upgrade the company’s value by increasing its order backlog, but is it doing so at the expense of other companies? The issue came up throughout the recent days in the wake of the decision to choose IMI as the supplier of precise rockets for ranges of up to 40 kilometers, for which the IDF’s Ground Forces have shown an interest. The defense establishment delivered an order for acquiring rockets by the end of the year. So far, so good (the commander of the Ground Forces even declared the intent to acquire the rockets during the Second International Fire Conference, organized by IsraelDefense last May), however the ministry called on the defense industries to propose rockets of this precise specification last year. Several companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems, considered several options, but to no avail - the ministry is the undisputed regulator of Israel's defense market, and it chose IMI as the sole supplier. Who is the deputy? Who will be the next deputy of the IDF Chief of Staff, Benny Gantz? Last month, this column revealed that IDF sources raised an eyebrow in light of the delay of the decision concerning the identity of Major General Yair Naveh’s replacement. The delay occurred due to the possibility of a potential conflict with Iran (a likelihood that has decreased, at least according to the recent public statements by Ehud Barak and Binyamin Netanyahu) and the wait for the final draft of the State Comptroller’s report on the “Harpaz affair.” The draft is expected to be delivered this weekend. Does this mean that the next deputy will be soon be announced? The candidates are Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi and Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. Eizenkot is considered as the leading candidate. Does this mean he will get the position? That remains uncertain. Is it also possible to assess that the next chief of staff, after Gantz, will be chosen from between the next deputy and Maj. Gen. Naveh? This remains uncertain as well. ** The title of naïve saying of the week, perhaps even of the decade, is reserved for Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, who cannot understand why crowds of Muslims attack US embassies and kill the ambassador in the Libyan city "that we liberated." Does Clinton not understand that US' general weakness is shaking the floor under the feet of the empire? It is possible. However, this is something that she should have already understood: the blind US faith in the democratic religion is costing the mother of all democracies dearly. A reminder: the Americans insisted on holding elections in the Palestinian Authority, which led to the Hamas ascension in the Gaza Strip, and was quick to denounce Hosni Mubarak only to get Mohamed Morsi. Even Khomeini previously saw empathy from former US President Jimmy Carter, in the name of "the will of the people," and the list of examples of their historical mistakes is lengthy. Does this mean that they are learning the lesson? Apparently not. The renowned US historian Barbara Tuchman, once defined foolishness as "a mistake persistently repeated with one’s eyes open." The US policy fits that definition. -------------------------------------------- IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis Website: www.imra.org.il |
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