Saudi Arabia to Trump: Recognition of Israel Is Not a Condition for Nuclear Deal

In Saudi Arabia, officials are responding to Donald Trump's pivot: the kingdom explains that the American president's demands regarding the Abraham Accords do not change the civil nuclear agreement, and there is no waiver of the Palestinian issue regarding normalization with Israel. Furthermore, the kingdom hints that if the agreement is not implemented, it could turn to understandings with China without any condition for recognizing Israel.

A Saudi analyst told "HaYom" that if Saudi recognition of Israel were an official condition, it would have been included in the agreement document and raised in the contacts held between the parties before the signing. The analyst believes that Donald Trump was primarily addressing his own public opinion, attempting to reduce concerns that arose in Israel and the USA. According to him, this does not mean that Saudi Arabia is backing down from its demand regarding recognition of Israel and normalization, which it had previously conditioned on a "credible path to a Palestinian state."

Beyond that, he argued that Saudi Arabia has a significant role in the Middle East. Therefore, he stated, it cannot move toward normalization with Israel without progress on the Palestinian issue and the condition of a "credible path to a two-state solution."

Last week, the USA and Saudi Arabia announced a civil nuclear agreement, under which strategic cooperation between the countries will be conducted. Initially, it did not appear that the agreement was related to Israel, but later Donald Trump declared that Saudi Arabia's entry into the Abraham Accords is a condition for its implementation. He also emphasized that it is an agreement on civil facilities, similar to the one that exists in the UAE.