United Nations calls on Israel to get rid of nuclear weapons

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution calling on Israel to dispose of all of its alleged nuclear weapons and to put its nuclear sites under the jurisdiction of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The resolution, led by the UN's First Committee, which deals with nuclear disarmament, passed 152-5 over the weekend.

Egypt submitted the resolution to the General Assembly in New York with sponsors including the Palestinian Authority and 19 countries including Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, the Jerusalem Post reported. 

The five countries that opposed the resolution were Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Palau and the United States. Twenty-four countries including European Union members, abstained from the vote.

Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons but is widely believed to have them.

Israel is one of the few U.N. member states that has not signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty.

Iran is a signatory on the treaty, but international authorities believe that Tehran may already possess nuclear weapons.

The resolution, on the "risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East," did not include Iran.

The resolution calls on Israel "to accede to the Treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and to place all its unsafe guarded nuclear facilities under the full scope of Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step toward enhancing peace and security."