The US is no longer demanding that Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel to move forward with talks on establishing a Saudi civil nuclear program, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The Biden administration had been working on a potential Israel-Saudi normalization deal that would have involved the US helping the Saudis establish a nuclear program and signing a mutual defense treaty with Riyadh.
There were reports in September 2023 that said Riyadh was willing to drop its long-standing condition that a Palestinian state must be established before it would normalize relations with Israel. But those talks fell apart after Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel unleashing its genocidal war on Gaza.
Over the past year and a half, Saudi officials have made clear there will be no Israel normalization without a Palestinian state. The idea of a US-Saudi mutual defense treaty has also been dropped, and President Trump is willing to move forward on the nuclear talks without Israel’s involvement, according to Reuters.
According to Israel Hayom, Trump had decided to move forward on the potential Saudi deal without consulting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli officials told the Israeli outlet that they don’t think Trump could get support from Congress for a Saudi nuclear program without a normalization agreement.
“The president won’t be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component,” an Israeli official told Israel Hayom. “He doesn’t have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn’t include Israel or that moves forward without its consent.”
Israel Hayom has also reported that President Trump is frustrated with Netanyahu over certain issues and is moving to take action without him. The report cited the truce deal between the US and Yemen’s Houthis, which excluded Israel, as one of those steps.
The news of Trump dropping the demand for Israeli normalization comes days before his visit to Saudi Arabia. The president is expected to announce a series of major arms deals while in the kingdom.
