During Trump’s first term as US president, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords, resulting in a historic normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab nations – the first in decades.
Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since also signed them, too.
Saudi Arabia has previously said it will not do so without the establishment of a Palestinian state, but the White House said the deal would be off if Riyadh did not join the accords.
Israel has welcomed Trump’s statement.
Posting on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Saudi Arabia joining the accords “would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East”.
The statement did not mention the nuclear deal. However, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat said previously his country “can manage it” if Saudi Arabia had nuclear power for peaceful means.
Others were more critical. Former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, told the paper: “Every military nuclear program begins with a civilian one.”
Israel itself is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but it neither confirms nor denies that this is the case.
The US-Saudi deal is described as a “peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement” that will provide “great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy programme” by the US energy department.
The nuclear issue has been at the centre of the months-long US-Israeli conflict with Iran which has for years denied Western accusations that it aims to acquire nuclear weapons.
