Netanyahu, who plans to send a deputy and two senior advisers to the April 12-13 conference instead, cancelled “after learning that some countries including Egypt and Turkey plan to say Israel must sign the NPT”, an Israeli official said.
Arab diplomats countered that they suspected Netanyahu had cancelled mainly to avoid further confrontation with US President Barack Obama over Jewish settlements, and denied having any plans to press Israel on atomic policy.
Netanyahu’s attendance at the 47-country summit would have been unprecedented. Israeli premiers long shunned such forums, hoping to dampen foreign scrutiny on their nuclear secrets.
By staying outside the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Israel has not had to forswear nuclear arms nor admit international inspectors to its Dimona reactor, which experts believe has produced plutonium for between 80 and 200 warheads.
Aides said Netanyahu had agreed to attend the summit after being assured it would focus on efforts to secure fissile materials and shun language challenging Israel’s nuclear “ambiguity” policy.
Such coordination between the allies has been clouded by rifts over stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
