The UN’s toothless nuclear watchdog springs into action once again—against Israel: Israel Should Talk About Nuclear Arms-ElBaradei. (Hat tip: Amir.)

Speaking to reporters on an official visit to the Russian capital, Mohamed ElBaradei — director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — said this would be a main topic of his visit to Israel in early July.

“We need … to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

“Israel agrees with that, but they say it has to be … after peace agreements,” ElBaradei said. “My proposal is maybe we need to start to have a parallel dialogue on security at the same time when we’re working on the peace process.”

He said that a dialogue would help reduce widespread frustration in the Middle East “about what is seen to be a security imbalance.” He said talks on nuclear disarmament could stimulate peace efforts by building confidence in the region.

Asked if he thought the Israelis would be open to such an idea, he said: “I don’t know. That’s the purpose of my visit.”

ElBaradei said he would not be lecturing the Israelis on whether or not they should acknowledge having atom bombs.

Under a policy of so-called “strategic ambiguity,” Israel neither admits nor denies having nuclear weapons but is widely believed to have from 100 to 200 nuclear weapons.

“I think everybody takes it as a given that Israel has a nuclear capability, if not nuclear weapons. So whether they would like to come in the open, whether they maintain … ambiguity, it’s for them to decide,” ElBaradei said.

He said he would like Israel, as well as everyone else in the Middle East, to open up its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspections.

ElBaradei said it was unsustainable that some countries had nuclear weapons and others did not. “As long as you continue to have countries dangling a cigarette from their mouth, you cannot tell everybody not to smoke with a high degree of credibility,” ElBaradei said.

Doesn’t it give you a warm feeling of security to know that this is the man responsible for stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons among genocidal Middle Eastern dictatorships?