Gallant says defense establishment to deliberate risks of potential Saudi nuclear program

BERLIN — In their closed-door meeting, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius are expected to discuss Saudi Arabia, which is inching closer to signing a US-brokered normalization agreement with Israel.

Part of the deal is said to center on allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its own soil, which has been loudly decried by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid but has met with relative silence by Israel’s security establishment.

Gallant said that “the Israeli security establishment will give a professional response” on the matter after consulting the Defense Ministry, the Mossad, Israel’s nuclear authority and the IDF chief of staff, among others. “When the answers will be clear, we will let the prime minister and cabinet know, and then the public,” Gallant adds.

“We know one thing, that normalization with Saudi Arabia is a blessed thing for Israel. But we will do everything to define the risk,” the defense minister said.