From the
BBC:
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a visit to the US where he was to attend a summit on nuclear security, Israeli officials say.
Mr Netanyahu made the decision after learning that Egypt and Turkey intended to raise the issue of Israel's presumed nuclear arsenal, the officials said.
Mr Obama is due to host dozens of world leaders at the two-day conference, which begins in Washington on Monday.
Israel has never confirmed or denied that it possesses atomic weapons.
Sad, really. Thanks to an Israeli whistleblower, the world has known of Israel's nuclear weapons program for almost 30 years now. But they haven't signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the U.S. hasn't pressed the point. Just like the U.S. hasn't pressed the point about India not signing the NPT, either.
Reason: We're buddies!
This point is not missed by the rest of the world's governments or news organizations. The United States has a grotesque double standard when it comes to what our governments (Democratic and Republican,
alike) claim to be one of the most important cornerstones of keeping a reasonably-orderly world: the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The United States openly disregards the Nuclear Arms Proliferation Treaty for favored nations (even those who admit nuclear weapons programs, like India) while sanctioning adversarial nations in the extreme, including the possibility of attack for nascent nuclear programs which haven't so much as produced nuclear power yet, like Iran.I believe Obama may actually be trying to change things on this front but it is hard to say we are blameless in Israel's behavior: We have protected and encouraged this behavior for far too long.
PB