Jerusalem, Israel. A proposed agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia allowing the kingdom to build nuclear reactors using American technology and enrich uranium has raised concerns in Israel about a potential regional arms race.
The deal, announced on Wednesday and still requiring Congressional approval, is intended to support Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear programme.
Israeli criticism
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence and foreign ministers had not commented on the agreement.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is seeking to unseat Netanyahu in the October 27 election, described the proposed arrangement as a strategic failure.
“The nuclear agreement that is coming together with Saudi Arabia, over Israel’s head, is a serious strategic failure that endangers our security,” Bennett said. “Nuclear enrichment on Saudi soil could lead to a regional nuclear race and a dangerous loss of control.”
Former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear programme would lead to nuclear weapons and “a crazy arms race throughout the entire Middle East.”
Lieberman said Israel, widely believed to possess the region’s only nuclear arsenal, should oppose the agreement and lobby Congress to block it.
Long-running negotiations
A civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia has been discussed for years under both President Donald Trump’s first administration and former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Previous efforts did not result in an agreement, partly because nonproliferation groups warned that such a deal could provide Saudi Arabia with a path to developing a nuclear weapon.
Israeli officials had also hoped that any nuclear agreement would form part of a wider normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as envisaged under the Biden administration’s plan.
