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1 Jeremy Issacharoff, The Consultations in Glion and Geneva: A View from the Negotiating Table: Personal Recollections and Reflections of the Informal Consultations on the Middle East WMD-Free Zone Conference (2013-2014) 1 (2023)

handle is hein.unl/cnsiavwng0001 and id is 1 raw text is: '1 // MIDDLE EAST WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION FREE ZONE SERIES Between 2013-2014 representatives from Arab states, Iran and Israel met to discuss convening the Middle East weapons of mass destruction free zone (ME WMDFZ) Conference, which had been mandated by the 2010 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It was the first time since the 1990s that states of the region discussed this issue face-to-face. The meetings took place mainly in Glion and Geneva, Switzerland and were facilitated by Ambassador Jaakko Laajava of Finland, and co- convened by the Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and United States, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. This ME WMDFZ paper series presents firsthand, personal reflections and lessons learned by those that participated in the meetings. ISRAEL'S APPROACH TO ARMS CONTROL Before describing the informal consultations in Glion and Geneva, it is important to recall the policy context that preceded them and had an impact on the Israeli position during the talks. The consultations began in late 2011 and culminated in five sessions between October 2013 and June 2014 that were not renewed thereafter, notwithstand- ing Israel's willingness to do so. The only previous consultations on these issues between Israel and Arab countries were the multilateral Arms Control and Regional Se- curity (ACRS) talks that took place pursuant to the Madrid Peace Con- ference in the early 1990s. Those talks had also been discontinued by the Arab states. Israel's approach to arms control developed over the years, par- ticularly during the 1980s, with a clear emphasis on the need for