UN Under-Secretary-General, High Representative for Disarmament Izumi Nakamitsu hopes that Israel will participate in the newly minted Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2020) UN Under-Secretary-General, High Representative for Disarmament Izumi Nakamitsu hopes that Israel will participate in the newly minted Conference on the Establishment of a middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
The very first session of this new format was held in the UN headquarters in New York City in November 2019 and was attended by most relevant stakeholders with the exception of the United States and, most notably, Israel.
Nakamitsu noted that the first session was a success exceeding all expectations and that the door was still open for the United States and Israel to take part in upcoming sessions.
"The process is not closed to Israel and the United States. In fact, through their political declaration, Participating States reaffirmed that all countries in the region are invited to be part of the process. So, we very much hope that eventually they will, I mean Israel in particular, be able to participate and we will try our best to make sure that that will be the case," Nakamitsu said.
The UN General Assembly passed the resolution to convene the Conference in December 2018. The next conference will take place in November 2020 under the rotating presidency of Kuwait.
Israel is widely believed to possess a stockpile of nuclear weapons, speculated to number between 90 and 400 warheads, although it was never officially acknowledged. The country is not a signatory to the landmark Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
