Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) led eight other House Democrats who are Jewish in a letter yesterday urging U.S. President Donald Trump to keep cooperation with Saudi Arabia on a civilian nuclear program “explicitly” tied to the kingdom’s normalization with Israel.
The nine congressmen noted their “grave concerns” about reports that Trump is considering “delinking” a nuclear energy deal from joining the 2020 Abraham Accords.
“This development would be a dramatic and unacceptable policy change that would drastically hamstring the Middle East peace process and undermine the successful Abraham Accords implemented during the first Trump administration,” the nonet stated.
“We firmly believe that any discussion of nuclear talks or defensive treaties must explicitly be tied to the kingdom’s recognition of Israel and normalization of relations between the two countries,” the group wrote.
In addition to Goldman, the signatories were Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).
Trump, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, said in a speech on Tuesday that it would be a dream come true for him if Saudi Arabia enters the Abraham Accords, but it should do so when it is ready.
