A deal between the US and Saudi Arabia allowing the kingdom to build nuclear reactors using US technology and to enrich uranium has fueled fears in Israel of the start of an arms race in the Middle East.
The agreement, which was announced on Wednesday and still needs approval from the US Congress, would allow Saudi Arabia to develop a civilian nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense and foreign ministers have so far not commented on the deal, which critics say compromises Israel’s long-term security interests.
Photo: AP
“The nuclear agreement that is coming together with Saudi Arabia, over Israel’s head, is a serious strategic failure that endangers our security,” said former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is seeking to unseat Netanyahu in an Oct. 27 election. “Nuclear enrichment on Saudi soil could lead to a regional nuclear race and a dangerous loss of control.”
Former Israeli minister of defense Avigdor Lieberman said that “the civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia will end in nuclear weapons and will lead to a crazy arms race throughout the entire Middle East.”
Israel must oppose the deal and lobby Congress to stop the deal, Lieberman said.
A civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia has been in the works for years during US President Donald Trump’s first administration and that of former US president Joe Biden.
No deal has come together before now in part because of warnings from nonproliferation groups who say that it could offer Saudi Arabia a path to develop a nuclear weapon.
Israel also had hoped that a deal would come as part of a long-sought normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh.
“There is no security official who would say that introducing civilian nuclear capability into Saudi Arabia without integrating the move as part of building a moderate regional alliance is a step that is good for Israel’s security,” former Israeli deputy prime minister Benny Gantz said.