Egypt shied away from singling out Israel’s large, but not officially acknowledged nuclear arsenal on Monday, despite Tel Aviv’s worries that Egypt and Turkey will raise the issue at the nuclear security summit scheduled to begin later this evening in the American capital.
“Egypt repeats its calls to save the world from all kinds of nuclear threat,” said Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit during his opening remarks before the summit. “Egypt will continue pursuing its efforts to create a Middle East nuclear-free zone,” said Abul Gheit in his opening speech that was broadcast by the state-run Middle East News Agency before the summit convenes.
That Egypt’s top diplomat declined to refer to Israel’s nuclear arsenal was surprising to many analysts, who considered the two-day summit a "convenient platform" to mobilize support against Israel.
“I am utterly shocked at Abul Gheit’s remarks,” said Safwat el-Zayat, deputy director of the Middle East Research and Studies Center. “This is a strategic insult to our diplomacy,” Zayat told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
He added that the Egyptian minister might have been “under heavy pressure from the American side not to raise the issue.”
On Sunday, Erdogan said the world is turning "a blind eye" to Israel's nuclear program, and vowed to raise the issue.
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