The expected announcement of a U.S. agreement with Saudi Arabia to develop a civilian nuclear program has raised concerns in Israel, with critics saying it could lead to a regional race for nuclear power and even the development of a bomb.
The agreement, first reported on Tuesday, could enable Saudi Arabia to enrich its own fuel for nuclear reactors. It took many by surprise in Israel, which has its own secretive nuclear weapons program, including official nuclear research facilities.
Saudi Arabia has long pushed for access to U.S. nuclear technology, but Israel had hoped that a deal would be conditional on the kingdom opening diplomatic ties with the country.
Former Israeli senior defense officials and analysts said that, at best, the deal would erode the possibility for normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia. At worst, some argued, it could spur more Middle Eastern countries to seek their own nuclear programs.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately comment. At least one Israeli government minister sought to counter public criticism, arguing that the country could live with a Saudi nuclear program for civilian purposes.
“If they want it for peaceful purposes, for energy needs, we can manage it,” said Nir Barkat, Israel’s minister of economy, the most senior government official to comment on the issue so far, in a radio interview on Wednesday.
He added that normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia was “still on the table,” and that Mr. Netanyahu and President Trump would “not take risks for the state of Israel.”
Opposition leaders and critics described the deal as both dangerous for Israel and a sign that the country’s standing in Washington had eroded.
“Every military nuclear program begins with a civilian one,” said Avigdor Liberman, an Israeli politician who served as defense minister from 2016 to 2018. He added that Israel should lobby Congress to protest the deal, which he said could lead to a regional arms race to develop a nuclear bomb.
Benny Gantz, another opposition leader, who served as defense minister from 2020 to 2022, called the U.S.-Saudi deal “a huge missed opportunity” and pointed the finger at Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
“Time and time again, this extremist government misses chances to change the Middle East,” he wrote in a post on X.
The plan to tie a U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal to the opening of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia was previously discussed during the Biden administration. Yet the prospect became increasingly remote after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza, which was heavily criticized by Saudi Arabia.
Heedo Abu Laban contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
