Simcha Dinitz, the Israel Ambassador to the United States, reiterated here today Israel’s denial that it is a nuclear power. “Israel is not a nuclear country and we shall never be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East,” he told a press conference. “Regarding our capacity to build such bombs, it is simply theoretical.”
Dinitz, in Montreal to address a dinner of the Friends of the Ben Gurion University, also affirmed that Israel will never pay “political black-mail” to Syria for the renewal of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights when the mandate expires at the end of May. He said the stationing of UNDOF was part of the disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria.
On the Lebanese situation, the Israeli envoy said that the strife there has demonstrated that no Arab country will tolerate a minority within its borders. He said if Syria takes over control of Lebanon this will add another confrontation state on Israel’s borders.
Referring to last week’s Arab riots in the Galilee, Dinitz said they were incited by the Communists. He expressed “pride” in Israel’s democracy which permitted the Communist Party to function, with all the risks that it involved. He noted that the upcoming municipal elections on the West Bank will be the most democratic ever in that area, since for the first time women and non-property owners will vote.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
