Welcome to the world of Israeli double standards. In this universe – the Israeli government has pushed for all of its neighboring countries to eliminate their stockpiles of chemical weapons while maintaining that Israel’s stockpiles will not fall under the supervision of the international community. It’s ridiculous to assert that one country must abide by a different standard than the ones the Israeli government themselves are unwilling to be governed by. And it’s getting old.
As the LA Times points out HERE:
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but it never ratified the agreement.
Israeli officials insist that their government is willing to ratify the treaty, but only after others in the region follow suit. Syria and Egypt notably have refused to sign the accord outlawing the use of chemical weapons.
Israel’s regional enemies have insisted they need chemical weapons to counter the threat of the nuclear weapons Israel is believed to possess. No other Middle East nation is thought to have such an arsenal.
Now the Israelis say they would ratify the treaty after all of its neighbors do but that’s complete bullshit. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his party – Likud – have no intention of submitting to the will of the international community in any regard. It is very easy to create a bilateral agreement between those neighboring countries and Israel to eliminate all chemical weapons and that ratification of the treaty would not go into effect until all parties have signed on. It’s very simple but Israel – as usual – is not negotiating in good faith. In short – they’re lying.
The Israeli government is talking in double speak trying to throw in as many potential roadblocks to eliminating its chemical weapons stockpile as possible. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Haaretz this HERE:
“Unfortunately, while Israel signed the convention, other countries in the Middle East, including those that have used chemical weapons recently or in the past, or are believed to be working to improve their chemical capabilities, have failed to follow suit and have indicated that their position would remain unchanged even if Israel ratifies the convention,” Palmor said in a written statement. “Some of these states don’t recognize Israel’s right to exist and blatantly call to annihilate it. In this context, the chemical weapons threat against Israel and its civilian population is neither theoretical nor distant. Terror organizations, acting as proxies for certain regional states, similarly pose a chemical weapons threat. These threats cannot be ignored by Israel, in the assessment of possible ratification of the convention.”
So in other words – as long as countries refuse to recognize Israel … which means recognizing Israel as a “Jewish state” which also means effectively acknowledging that Palestinians do not have the right to return to their homes and it means tying their agreement to eliminate chemical weapons directly with the intractable negotiations to end the Israeli occupation. That’s not happening any time soon. Additionally – the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry says that it’s being threatened by “terror organizations” which I presume it means Hezbollah, Hamas etc. So in other words – Israel isn’t getting rid of their chemical weapons as long as any potential threat to them exists and at that point … they’ll just forget they even said anything about it in the first place.
They’re lying.
Some may say that Syria is held to a different standard because Israel has been responsible with their chemical weapons cache; however – as the international community already knows – Israel has already used chemical weapons on Palestinians in violation of international law (source). To suggest that the Israeli military is any more responsible than the Syrian government as they continue their campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid … well – that’s laughable and horribly sad.
Most people don’t know that while Israel has nuclear weapons (which they will not officially acknowledge) – they will not sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Another Israeli double standard – they can have nukes and not be subject to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency but they want to bomb Iran for trying to develop nuclear energy which some have suggested could potentially be used to build a nuclear bomb. Israel is saying they could bomb Iran if they will not comply with restrictions that Israel will themselves not comply with.
As Reuters explains in 2010 HERE:
Israel on Saturday rejected as “flawed and hypocritical” a declaration by signatories of a global anti-nuclear arms treaty that urged it to sign the pact and make its atomic facilities subject to U.N. inspections.
All 189 parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the United States, called on Friday in a declaration that singled out Israel for a conference in 2012 to discuss banning weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
“As a non-signatory state of the NPT, Israel is not obligated by the decisions of this conference, which has no authority over Israel,” the Israeli government said in an emailed statement.
This means specifically that United Nations inspectors have no authority to review the Israeli nuclear program. Israel will not allow UN inspectors to view these weapons or this program but Israel expects other countries to fall under the same expectations. CBS explains how Israel rebuffed UN inspectors again in December of 2012 HERE:
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution by a vote of 174-6, with six abstentions, calling on Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty “without further delay” and open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The countries that voted “no” included the United States, Israel, Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.
Israel has never revealed that it has nuclear weapons, though it is believed the Jewish state does.
According to CBS News, Israel has refused to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty along with three nuclear weapon states in India, North Korea and Pakistan.
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