The United States was accused this weekend of being hypocritical for supporting Israel’s right to have nuclear weapons while trying to force Iran to stop uranium enrichment. During a conference in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, the Bahraini Labor Minister Majeed Al Alawi questioned Defense Secretary Robert Gates about Israel.

Majeed Al Alawi: “Secretary of Defense, thank you very much for the excellent speech. I was wondering whether you think the Israeli nuclear weapon is a threat to regional security or not?”

Robert Gates: “No, I do not.”

The statement by Gates was greeted by laughter from a room filled with government officials from Middle Eastern countries. Gates said there are significant differences in terms of both the history and the behavior of the Iranian and Israeli governments.

Robert Gates: “I think that Israel is not training terrorists for — to subvert its neighbors. It is not — it has not shipped weapons into a place like Iraq to kill thousands of innocent civilians covertly. It has not carried out a number — it has not threatened to destroy any of its neighbors. It is not trying to destabilize the government of Lebanon.”