Israel to Reserve Action on Proposed Non-proliferation Treaty

Foreign Ministry sources indicated today that Israel will withhold any public statement of her position on an international treaty for the non-proliferation of atomic weapons until she has further information on guarantees to non-nuclear states that may be faced with nuclear aggression. Israel is also waiting for the reaction to such a treaty by other states considered capable of producing nuclear weapons.

The United States and the Soviet Union have agreed on the draft of a non-proliferation treaty, worked out at Geneva, to be signed by non-nuclear as well as nuclear powers. The draft has been endorsed by Britain though not by France or Communist China which also possess nuclear weapons. The fate of the treaty depends to a great extent on its acceptance by such countries as Israel, Sweden, India, Poland, West Germany and Italy all of which are considered capable of producing nuclear weapons, including megaton bombs. Israel is known to be experimenting with nuclear reactors at a secret installation in the Negev.