Israel asks Egypt to stop efforts to monitor Israeli nuclear facilities

Israel has demanded that Egypt halts its efforts to put forward a resolution requiring Israel to subject its nuclear facilities to international inspection. The motion is expected to come up for a vote at the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) in two weeks, senior Israeli officials said.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Tuesday quoted Israeli sources (who declined to be named) as saying that an Israeli delegation headed by ministerial envoy Yitzhak Molcho conveyed this message to the Egyptian authorities during a visit to Cairo three weeks ago.

The newspaper said that Molcho, along with National Security Advisor to the Israeli prime minister Yossi Cohen, met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other officials to discuss the issue.

According to the paper, Israel believes that the Egyptian foreign ministry has been leading efforts to open Israeli nuclear facilities to international supervision for years.

The sources added that the Egyptian position has caused in recent months in relations between the two countries.

A senior Israeli official said that Israel expects Egypt to change its policy in this regard as a result of the close security and intelligence cooperation between the two countries, which has been on the rise since President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi came to power.

The newspaper reported that Israeli envoys made it clear during their meeting in Cairo that Israel is not pleased with Egyptian efforts at the IAEA and that these efforts do not reflect normal relations between the two countries, adding that these moves will not succeed because Israel will deter them as it did in past years.

Israel became angry with Egyptian efforts in May when the Egyptian foreign ministry submitted a draft resolution at the United Nations in non-proliferation conference in New York. So far, Egyptian efforts have been foiled a result of joint Israeli, British and American efforts.

The draft resolution, entitled “Israel’s nuclear capabilities” calls for Israel to open its nuclear facilities to United Nations observers and to hold an international conference on nuclear disarmament in the Middle East.

Although the draft resolution is non-binding to the UN Security Council, Israel fears it will cause great political damage to Israel and draw international attention to its as-yet undeclared nuclear capabilities.

The sources said that Israel has launched an international campaign to thwart the Egyptian’s efforts since July, and expects their attempts to fail as they have previously.