Room of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.org – The U.N. General Assembly has approved an Egyptian proposed-resolution Tuesday calling on Israel to renounce its nuclear weapons and allow its nuclear facilities to be internationally monitored in a 161-5 vote. The resolution also generally called for a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

The resolution titled “The Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East” stated that Israel is the only Middle East country that is not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and should “accede to that treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons,” The Associated Press reported.

The United States, Canada, Palau and Micronesia opposed the resolution along with Israel. Eighteen countries abstained from the vote.

Israel has never confirmed that it possesses nuclear weapons. The Jewish state has also always opposed such a resolution on the grounds that a true peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should be agreed upon first, and the fact that Iran’s nuclear program is the true regional nuclear threat.

Meanwhile Iran is trying to get a senior post on a U.N. committee that decides accreditation of non-governmental organizations, after being elected to the 19-member committee in April for a four-year term from 2015. Israel and the U.S. are also members.

“Imagine if Iran ran this committee in the same way it runs its country — human rights activists would be detained, journalists would be tortured, and anyone with a social media account would find himself arrested on fabricated charges,” Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters.