Netanyahu Stays Away From Washington

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

Israel's prime minister has abruptly canceled a trip to Washington to attend a nuclear security summit sponsored by the White House. The decision came out of concern that a group of Muslim countries would use the summit to pressure Israel to acknowledge its suspected nuclear arsenal. Israel is believed to be the only nuclear armed power in the Middle East, but has never confirmed or denied it.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Jerusalem.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: An Israeli official tells NPR that it decided to downgrade its participation in the Washington conference because countries like Turkey and Egypt intend to openly press Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. International experts believe that Israel has a stockpile of up to 200 nuclear bombs, but it has maintained a policy of ambiguity. By not admitting to a nuclear arsenal, and by not signing the NPT, Israel avoids mandatory, international inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Some Islamic regimes accuse Israel of hypocrisy. Israel is determined to stop countries like Iran from getting the bomb, they say, while keeping its own suspected arsenal away from international inspections. But some here in Israel say Netanyahu's cancellation has less to do with nuclear politics, and more to do with the ongoing strained relations between Washington and Israel.

Mr. MEIR JAVEDANFAR (Political Analyst): He's worried that he's going to face a backlash in the United States against the settlement policies.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meir Javedanfar is an Israeli political analyst. Last month, Netanyahu visited the U.S. and had a tense meeting with President Obama regarding peace talks with the Palestinians.

Mr. JAVEDANFAR: He had enough trouble last time he was in America, the dressing down he received in the White House. He just doesn't want to face the questions.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The Israeli government denies that's the prime minister's motive. But the Obama administration is waiting for a response from Israel to a series of demands regarding the Middle East peace process. The United States has asked Israel to stop building in East Jerusalem, an area Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Washington has also asked Israel to implement a series of confidence-building measures that will get Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Israel has so far not met any of the U.S. requests. And there is still a huge gap between what the U.S. wants and what Israel is prepared to give.

Israel's deputy prime minister, Dan Meridor, will be traveling to Washington in Netanyahu's stead for the nuclear conference. There has been no announcement of any bilateral meetings during his visit.

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.