The U.S. blocked the issuing of a concluding statement for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference that closed Friday night in New York, following objections voiced by Israel. The statement was expected to task the UN secretary general with convening an international conference on making the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone by March 2016.
Israel objected to the deadline. Israel also holds that such a conference should deal with all regional security problems, including missiles and terrorism, rather than the nuclear issue alone.
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu called Secretary of State John Kerry on Shabbos, thanking the U.S. for blocking the decision on convening the international conference on making the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone by March 2016. According to a senior Israeli official, Netanyahu told Kerry that the U.S. met the commitment it made to Israel in 2010 with regard to the nuclear issue.
{Matzav.com Israel}
