Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
VIENNA (AP) - Israel and its allies have fended off an Arab-led attempt to censure the Jewish state's refusal to acknowledge that it possesses nuclear weapons.
The Jewish state is overwhelmingly considered to possess such arms but declines to confirm it. Its Arab neighbors say Israel's nuclear weapons threaten peace in the Middle East and miss few international opportunities to criticize it on that account.
The latest Arab move against Israel was fended off Friday as 54 nations voted against a resolution expressing concern about Israel's `'nuclear capabilities" at a meeting of the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency.
The resolution also urged Israel to open its atomic program to international perusal. Supporting the notion were 43 IAEA member nations, while 32 others abstained.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
