“Saudi Arabia’s accession to the Abraham Accords would be a historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East,” Netanyahu’s office said after US President Donald Trump announced that a US-Saudi nuclear deal would depend on whether the kingdom recognizes Israel.
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Trump said on Thursday that a US-Saudi nuclear deal “is entirely dependent” on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, which recognize Israel.
Washington brokered the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term, aiming to build bridges between Israel and the Arab world.
An agreement to establish a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia “will be approved, but is entirely dependent on Saudi Arabia joining the highly respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia participated in preliminary talks on normalizing relations with Israel but abruptly withdrew after the war in the Gaza Strip began.
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Riyadh has stated that it will not recognize Israel without an independent Palestinian state.
Trump’s announcement came a day after the US and Saudi Arabia announced a historic agreement to establish a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom, but critics fear it could pave the way for uranium enrichment and an arms race.
The decision comes as the US continues its conflict with Iran, largely stemming from concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program, which remains a major point of contention in now stalled peace talks.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco have signed the Abraham Accords, establishing diplomatic, economic, and security ties with Israel. A fourth country, Sudan, has not yet formalized relations. Non-Arab Kazakhstan, which already recognized Israel, agreed to join last November.
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