Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to skip Washington nuclear summit

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will skip next week’s nuclear summit in Washington, but the Obama administration said Friday that it was hopeful the Israeli delegation will still be a “robust” participant.

Netanyahu had been scheduled to attend, but he withdrew, citing other commitments. Israel is considered a nuclear state though it has never officially acknowledged having such weapons, which could have been a touchy issue at the summit.

“We obviously would like to have the prime minister, but the deputy prime minister will be leading the delegation and it will be a robust Israeli delegation,” U.S. national security advisor James L. Jones told reporters on Air Force One while returning with President Obama from Prague, Czech Republic, where the president signed a nuclear arms limit agreement with Russia.

The White House has been pushing next week’s summit as the capstone of a week of activity on limiting nuclear weapons, including the signing of the arms treaty by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The administration also released its latest nuclear profile, which for the first time said the United States will not use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state if it abides by the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty– a warning to Iran and North Korea, which have some form of nuclear programs.

Israeli officials had feared that Muslim countries at the summit would demand that Israel sign the non-proliferation treaty. By avoiding the treaty, Israel has also avoided international inspection of its facilities, including the reactor at Dimona, believed to be the source of Israel’s nuclear arsenal.

“I think that the Israelis did not want to be a catalyst for changing the theme of the summit,” Jones told reporters. “The prime minister will be in Israel, but he is committed to the theme of the summit and the president’s initiatives on proliferation and counter-proliferation and the spread of nuclear weapons.
“So, again, we’ll be sorry that the prime minister can’t be there, but we’re delighted that we’ll have a very, very good Israeli delegation,” Jones said.

There have been recent cracks in the relationship between Israel and the United States, with the Obama administration insisting that Netanyahu stop construction in East Jerusalem. There have also been reports that the United States is considering whether to offer its own peace plan for the region, where talks have again been stalled.

Describing the relationship between the U.S. and Israel as fine and ongoing, Jones said there was no immediate intention to offer a peace plan.

“We’ve not taken any decision to jump-start any dramatic shift in our strategy,” Jones said. “We don’t intend to surprise anybody at any time, and that whatever we do will always be done with the effort to help both Israel ... and our unqualified pledge to their security, and the emergence of a new Palestinian state that has legitimate claims on sovereignty.”

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal