Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Allow me first to express Israel's deep condolences to the people in Asia and in America that were recently hit by major natural disasters.

Mr. Chairman.

I am pleased to convey the heartiest congratulations of the Government of Israel to the Agency and to the Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, on being awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

This is an unparalleled honor that explicitly recognizes the importance of the Agency's missions of promoting global peace and stability, and of the unique role of the Agency is countering further proliferation. It also recognizes the personal contribution of the Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei to carrying out these missions over the last years.

These are challenging times for the nuclear domain, with growing concerns of further proliferation attempts, and an acute demand for cheap and available energy. This makes the Agency's work, and that of its Director General, of “incalculable importance”, as noted by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

In our view, the main message of this Nobel Peace Prize is the hope and the expectation of all reasonable human beings that the IAEA will enhance its efforts to meet these old and new challenges. Let us hope that the Agency and the Director General, following a short period of celebration, will succeed in leveraging this profound respect and honor to deal even more effectively with the high burden of responsibility that they face, mainly in countering further proliferation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.