President Donald Trump on Thursday conditioned a deal on civilian nuclear power with Saudi Arabia on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-mediated normalization treaties signed or acceded to by Israel and six Muslim countries since 2020.
The agreement “pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and the UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords. The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president’s statement comes after the Trump administration announced the previous day that it signed a “peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement” with Saudi Arabia, with no mention of a requirement for normalization of relations with Israel.
The agreement provides a “legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives” and allows “great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program, benefiting American industry, workers and supply chains while helping to meet Saudi energy needs,” the U.S. Department of Energy said.
The agreement will go to Congress for review, according to the department.
Brian Romick, CEO and president of Democratic Majority for Israel, stated that the “decision to provide Saudi Arabia access to American civil nuclear technology without any meaningful progress toward normalization with Israel is a major strategic mistake.”
Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, called the agreement “a serious, dangerous mistake.”
“It is deeply dismaying that the administration is giving away the leverage of Saudi-Israel normalization while a nuclear Saudi Arabia would render America’s obligation to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge close to useless,” Klein said.
Trump has several times previously called on additional Arab and Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords.
In May, he urged Saudi, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to normalize ties with Israel within the accords framework.
His call came in tandem with Washington’s attempts to reach a permanent ceasefire with Iran as part of a wider agreement that would involve the Gulf states.
