Israel is not formally participating in the monthlong review conference at U.N. headquarters in New York. The NPT, which was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, divided the world into the nuclear “haves” and “have-nots.” The five “recognized nuclear-weapon states” — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — were to pursue good-faith negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
States without nuclear weapons, in turn, agreed not to acquire them, and to submit to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
India, Pakistan and Cuba also have not signed the NPT.