<p>Why are they refusing to sign the NPT (Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty)? Any thoughts on this, I know we refused to sign it too but why</p>
<p>Because they are little meanies.</p>
<p>Anyone else wanna take a try on this</p>
<p>The U.S. didn't sign because it would hurt economies like India that are devloping their nuclear energy program. there are other, more greedy, reasons that the US didn't sign, but that would be bad PR.</p>
<p>the NPT has many flaws in it that makes it very hard to agree with, imo. It views all nuclear material as the same, which is largely untrue. Nuclear energy is a steady source of energy, and the generation of such energy is very beneficial to growing nations (such as India).</p>
<p>^same reason for Israel, or?</p>
<p>ummm... i don't know.
It would make sense for Israel to back up the US, since Israel gets a lot of it's weapons and money from the US. However, I don't want to say that that's the only reason Israel did it, because that would be saying that Israel would rather be the United State's little brother over being a nation, which is dumb and untrue.</p>
<p>I think that Israel likes the double-standard as of now. It's the only middle eastern nation that is (for lack of a better word) approved of having nuclear weapons by the western nations. Meanwhile, as soon as Siria, Iran, etc., show signs of interest in nuclear weapons, the UN is all over them.
If Israel were to sign the NPT, then they would slowly lose the right to have their nuclear weapons, and ergo their 'power' over other middle eastern nations.</p>
<p>that's just my idea. I really don't follow politics that closely, so i could be WWWAAAYYY off with that.</p>
<p>why do you think Israel has yet to sign the NPT?</p>
<p>Israel at first was in favor of the treaty, but after some delays (Prague Spring), things became more internally divided. As a result, Israel didn't sign or ratify the treaty, and actually, there was pressure from the Johnson Administration for Israel to sign. As long as Israel remained ambiguous though (nuclear opacity) the U.S. was alright with Israel not signing it.</p>
<p>Probably one of the main reasons Israel has refused to sign, along with India and Pakistan, is that it creates a club of nuclear possessing countries, and those without it. The treaty entails that you needed to have tested nuclear weapons prior to 1967 to be a "legal" possessor of nuclear weapons. The legitimacy of that is another issue. Anyhow, this poses a problem for Israel then, and under the treaty, could not possess nuclear weapons legally. </p>
<p>Generally, Israel has argued that as long as it is under constant threat (its neighbors), it wont sign something that will undermine it's defenses. </p>
<p>Article II: Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture.</p>
<p>This specific article also poses a problem, and any further attempts to gather nuclear material under the treaty would be illegal. (and as a result Israel has attempted to make itself exempt from some of these international regulations to import nuclear material legally, I think this year actually?)</p>
<p>Most of this stuff only hits the surface of the issue though, and there are a lot more complex things to be calculated.</p>
<p>edit: oh yeah, and the U.S. was an original ratifier of the treaty.</p>
<p>The US sanctioned India and Pakistan when they acquired nuclear weapons - can't say the same for Israel.</p>
<p>Kev, good stuff. Did you know that Israel abducted and arrested Mordechai Vanunu and jailed him for 20 years for releasing Israel's nuclear secrets to the world? Unbelievable. And, what other theories could be underlying their refusal? Nuclear deterrence is one, but any others you might think of?</p>