Arms Control and Regional Security: 1948-2002
The process of demilitarization and arms control in the conflict began with the Agreement for the Demilitarization of Mount Scopus, signed by Arab and Jewish authorities onJuly 15, 1948.234 Since then, there have been few cooperative attempts to address the issue of demilitarization, arms control, or the establishment of a regional security regime for the area.
In fact, to the contrary, both the united States and the Soviet union engaged in arms trade with states in the region throughout the period of the major Arab-Israeli wars.The United Nations has consistently addressed the question of eliminating weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East in twenty-
nine similar resolutions passed since 1974 that reiterate the goal of creating a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the region.
Nevertheless, Israel’s official policy since 1961 has been “nuclear ambiguity,” simply asserting that it would not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the region. Israel has yet to sign the Nuclear NonÂProliferation Treaty, making it the only state in the Middle East not to do so. It is presumed that Israel’s nuclear weapons program dates back to the mid- to late-1950s and that, with initial French assistance and U.S. acquiescence, Israel has developed a relatively advanced nuclear arsenal.
One of the outcomes of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference was the formation of the Arms Control and Regional Security working group, which consisted of representatives of thirteen Arab states, Israel, a Palestinian delegation, and a number of extra-regional entities. ExpertÂlevel meetings focused on confidence-building measures with regard to maritime issues, military exercises and information exchange, search and rescue coordination, and the establishment of Regional Security Centers in Jordan, Qatar, and Tunisia. After September 1995, complications in the peace process and an inability to reach agreement over a weapons-of-mass- destruction-free zone resulted in talks being suspended.
However, several “Track II” efforts have been undertaken, including one coordinated by this editor between 1995 and 2004.Relevant documents in other chapters should be consulted, in particular those in: Section 4, Arab-Israeli Peace Process; and Section 7, Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process.
Document 327: Agreement for the Demilitarization of Mount Scopus (July 7, 1948) [available at http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Forei gn%20Relations%20since%201947/1947-1974/14%20Agreement%20for%20the %20demilitarisation%20of%20Mount%20Sco]. This agreement, struck between Arab and Jewish military commanders and the chairman of the United Nations Truce Commission, protects the area known as Mount Scopus in Jerusalem until have hostilities ceased. Mount Scopus was home to important civic institutions such as the Hadassah Hospital, the Hebrew University, and the Augusta Victoria Hospital.
Document 328: Soviet-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (May 27, 1971) [reprinted in Arab-Israeli Conflict and Conciliation: A Documentary History (Bernard Reich ed., 1995)]. The newly elected president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, brought strained relations between Egypt and the Soviet Union. Sadat brought many changes to government and Egypt’s international relations, specifically Egypt’s position on the Arab-Israel conflict. He and Soviet President Nikolai Podgornyi singed a fifteen-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation to strengthen their relations and promote universal peace. The treaty called for an unbreakable friendship and cooperation in the political, economic, scientific, technological, and cultural fields. As the first Soviet Treaty with an Arab country, Podgornyi was hoping to have influence of Sadat, but Sadat’s main goal was to gain back the Egyptian territory occupied by Israel. The treaty did not last after Moscow refused to supply Sadat with aircraft and missiles. Just five years later Sadat officially decided to end the treaty.
Document 329: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3263, Establishing a Nuclear- Weapon-Free Zone in the Region of the Middle East (December 9, 1974) [G.A.
Res. 3263, U.N. GAOR, U.N. Doc. 3263 (XXIX) (1974)]. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3263 calls for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East. The same resolution has been adopted every year since.Document 330: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3474, Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East (December11, 1975) [G.A. Res. 3474, U.N. GAOR, 2437th plen. mtg., U.N. Doc. 3474 (1975)]. In Resolution 3474, the General Assembly recognizes that the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East enjoys wide regional support and expresses the opinion that consulted member states should exert efforts towards the realization of that objective. It recommends that concerned member states proclaim their intention to refrain, on a reciprocal basis, from producing, acquiring, or in any other way possessing nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices and from permitting the stationing of nuclear weapons in their territory or the territory under their control by any third party.
Document 331: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 33/71 (A), Military and Nuclear Collaboration with Israel (December 14, 1978) [G.A. Res. 33/71 (A), U.N. GAOR, 84th plen. mtg., U.N. Doc. A∕RES∕33∕71(A) (1978)]. After expressing its grave concern over the continued and rapid Israeli military build-up, the General Assembly adopted this resolution requesting all states to refrain from military and nuclear collaboration with Israel and condemning the intensification of military collaboration between Israel and South Africa. The General Assembly calls upon all states: to refrain from any supply of arms, ammunition, military equipment or vehicles, or spare parts to Israel; to ensure that supplies do not reach Israel through other parties; and to end all transfer of nuclear equipment or fissionable material or technology to Israel.
Document 332: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 34/89, Israeli Nuclear Armament (December 11, 1979) [G.A.
Res. 34/89, U.N. GAOR, 34th Sess., 97th plen. mtg., U.N. Doc. A/RES/34/89 (1979)]. Alarmed by the increasing information and evidence of Israel’s activities aimed at the acquisition and development of nuclear weapons, the General Assembly in Resolution 34/89 calls upon Israel to submit its nuclear facilities to inspection by the IAEA and strongly condemns any attempt by Israel to manufacture, acquire, store, or test nuclear weapons or introduce them into the Middle East.Document 333: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 37/82, Israeli Nuclear ArmaÂment (December 9, 1982) [G.A. Res. 37/82, U.N. GAOR, U.N. Doc. A/RES/37/82 (1982)]. In Resolution 37/82, the General Assembly notes with grave concern Israel’s persistent refusal to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Conscious of the consequences of Israel’s nuclear-weapon capability and its collaboration with South Africa to develop nuclear weapons, the General Assembly reaffirms its demand that Israel renounce any possession of nuclear weapons and place all of its nuclear activities under international safeguards. It also requests that the Security Council investigate Israel’s nuclear activities and the collaboration of other states, parties, and institutions in these activities. Finally, the resolution calls upon all states to submit to the SecretaryÂGeneral all information concerning Israel’s nuclear program.
Document 334: United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency Resolution 470, Demanding that Israel Place Its Nuclear Facilities under IAEA Safeguards (September 25, 1987) [U.N. Int’l Atomic Energy Agency Res. 470, U.N. Doc. GC(XXXI)/RES/470 (1987)]. In Resolution 470, the IAEA demands that Israel place its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards and requests the director general to report back on Israel’s nuclear capabilities and threat and on the implementation of this resolution.
Document 335: Excerpts from the Report of the Secretary-General Regarding Israeli Nuclear Armament (October 16, 1987) [U.N.
GAOR, 42d Sess., Agenda Item 68, U.N. Doc. A/42/581 (1987)]. The Secretary-General submitted this report to the General Assembly in pursuance of Resolution 41/93, which had requested that the SecretaryÂGeneral follow closely Israel’s nuclear activities and update the Study on Israeli Nuclear Armament (1981). It reviews and investigates Israel’s nuclear capabilities.Document 336: White House Fact Sheet on the Middle East Arms Control Initiative (May 29, 1991) [avaifabfeathttp://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/papers/1991/91052905. html]. On May 29, 1991, President Bush announced a comprehensive arms control proposal for the Middle East aimed at reducing the threat of conventional arms build-ups in the region. The proposal targets Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the other states of the Maghreb and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The proposal calls on the five largest suppliers of arms to the region—China, France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States, which are also the permanent members of the Security Council— to meet at senior levels to establish guidelines for transfers of conventional arms, as well as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and associated technology to the region.
Document 337: Statement Issued after the Meeting of the Five on Arms Transfers and Non-Proliferation, Paris (July 9, 1991) [available at http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/
briefing/dispatch/1991/html/Dispatchv2no28.html]. U.S. President George Bush, French President Franyois Mitterrand, and British Prime Minister John Major, along with representatives of the People’s Republic of China and the USSR, met in Paris July 8-9, 1991, to review issues related to conventional arms transfers and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In this joint statement, they note with concern the dangers posed by the excessive buildup of military capabilities in the region and confirm they will not transfer conventional weapons in circumstances that would undermine regional stability.
Document 338: Joint-Statement by Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad and U.S. President Bill Clinton (January 16, 1994) [reprinted in The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict (Walter Laqueur & Barry Rubin eds., 2001)]. The January 1994 meeting between Asad and Clinton was the culmination of talks between the two men over the course of the preceding year. The meeting addressed both Arab-Israeli concerns as a well as the relationship between Syria and the United States.
Document 339: Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad and U.S.President Bill Clinton: Statement on Their Meeting (January 16, 1994) [reprinted in The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict (Walter Laqueur & Barry Rubin eds., 2001)]. The January 1994 meeting between Asad and Clinton was the culmination of talks between the two men over the course of the preceding year. The meeting addressed both Arab-israeli concerns as a well as the relationship between syria and the United states.
Document 340: Group of Experts—Middle East Regional Security: A Strategic Overview (1996) [Group of Expert on Middle East Regional Security with the Elimination of Weapons of Mass Destruction (IHRLI, 2003)]. This strategic overview of Middle East regional security was proposed by the Group of Experts on the Establishment of a Regional security Regime in the Middle East, a Track ii endeavor consisting of experts in the areas of the military, diplomacy, intelligence, science, and law. This document defines five principles for a regional security regime in the Middle East: states have the right to live in peace and security; each state has the right to self-defense; no state’s security is enhanced by reducing another state’s security; no state can intervene in the internal affairs of another state; and all conflicts should be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with international law. This text also calls for the establishment of institutional safeguards for security, such as a Middle East security council and a Middle East Disarmament and Arms Control Organization.
Document 341: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/41, the Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East (December 31, 1997) [G.A. Res. 52/41, U.N. GAOR, U.N. Doc. A/RES/52/41 (1997)]. In Resolution 52/41, the General Assembly calls upon israel as the only state in the Middle East not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to accede to it without delay and not to develop, produce, test, or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons and to place its nuclear facilities under iAEA safeguards as an important confidence-building measure.240
Document 342: Report by the Director General to the Board of Governors and to the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Application of IAEA Safeguards in the Middle East (August 17, 1999) [IAEA Doc. GOV/1999/51-GC(43)/17 (1999)]. In this report, the IAEA considers whether arms control and the establishment of a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East is a necessary precondition for the establishment of a comprehensive peace and security in the region—with Israel differing from all other states in the region on the issue. It determines that clarity about the views of Middle East states on such issues is indispensable to the preparation of model verification agreements. The director general adds that a future Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone will require far-reaching, intrusive, and comprehensive verification arrangements, including mutual inspection by the parties. Annexes include letters from Iraqi, Israeli, and Jordanian heads of state on the topic.
Document 343: Report of the Secretary-General, Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free 'Zone in the Middle East (July 15, 2002) [U.N. GAOR, 57th Sess., Item 64, U.N. Doc. A/57/214 (2002)]. United Nations Secretary-General Koffi Annan submitted this report to the General Assembly pursuant to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/21, which requests a report on the establishment of a nuclear- weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East. Annan reports that such a zone remains of considerable importance in the region and that he has consulted with concerned parties within and outside the region in order to explore ways of promoting one. The report contains the direct replies on the subject from the governments of Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, etc.
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