Secret U.S.-Israeli nuclear accord in question

President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons could expose a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons, according to U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists.  Avner Cohen, a Ploughshares grantee and expert on the history of Israel's nuclear program, said the "upcoming meeting with Netanyahu, due to the impending discussions with Iran, will be a platform for Israel to ask for reassurances that old understandings on the nuclear issue are still valid." Israel has promised not to test nuclear weapons while the U.S. has not pressed Israel to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which permits only five countries to have nuclear arms.

Henry Sokolski of the Ploughshares-funded Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Education Center added, "What the Israelis sense, rightly, is that Obama wants to do something new on Iran and this may very well involve doing something new about Israel's program.” Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, speaking at a U.N. meeting on the NPT, said Israel should join the treaty, which would require Israel to declare and relinquish its nuclear arsenal.