Israel will not attend a conference on creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons scheduled to take place in Finland, the head of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) has said. Speaking at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday, IAEC chief Shaul Horev said the situation in the Middle East was not yet “conducive” to the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone. “Such a process can only be launched when peaceful relations exist for a reasonable period of time in the region,” Horev said, according to a transcript of his remarks. The impetus for a nuclear weapons-free zone must come from within the region, he said. “It cannot be imposed from outside. Regrettably, the realities in the Middle East are far from being conducive,” he said.
