Snubs

Netanyahu Cancels on Obama

Will not attend his nuclear conference.

One step forward, two steps back? As President Obama signed a historic nuclear-reduction treaty with Russia today, Israel indicated it might not be so ready to cooperate on nonproliferation. Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his scheduled trip to President Barack Obama’s 47-country nuclear-security summit. After learning that Egypt and Turkey were planning on bringing up the issue of Israel’s alleged nuclear arsenal, the prime minister backed out. Although unconfirmed, Israel is believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear arms. The conference will discuss ways countries can keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Surely the move won't do much for already-strained relations between the two countries, which were upset when Israel announced the building of new settlements in East Jerusalem during a recent visit from Vice President Joe Biden.