PARIS — Israel, widely believed to have nuclear weapons and possessing no oil, said on Tuesday that it intended to develop civilian nuclear plants for energy, offering to build one as a joint project with Jordan, under French supervision.

The Israeli infrastructure minister, Uzi Landau, said at a Paris conference that Israel wanted a cleaner, more reliable source of energy than the large amounts of coal now imported. He said that regional cooperation on civilian nuclear power could help bind the Middle East.

Jordan, however, said any such cooperation was premature before a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jordan, like Egypt, has been talking about building a civilian nuclear power plant for some time.

Iran, already subject to sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, insists that its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes, but Western governments believe its intentions are military.