‘Insane nuclear arms race’: In Israel, former leaders pillory reported US-Saudi nuclear pact

Former defense minister and foreign minister Avigdor Liberman says Israel must fight a US agreement for Saudi Arabia to host a civilian nuclear program, warning that it will set off a nuclear arms race in the region if allowed to go ahead.

Liberman, the hawkish head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, who is seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections, tells the Kan public broadcaster that such an agreement would be “completely unacceptable.”

“Every military nuclear program starts off as a civilian program,” he says, pointing to Iran’s nuclear enrichment efforts.

“The agreement to allow enrichment on Saudi soil crosses a red line,” he adds. “It puts the whole Middle East into an insane nuclear arms race.”

Liberman also worries that a Saudi nuclear facility will become a target for Iranian attacks.

Noting that US and Israeli interests are not always aligned, he calls on Jerusalem and pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and others to fight the pact and convince Congress to vote against it, even if it means splitting with US President Donald Trump.

“We need to be firm and not stutter,” he says.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak says the fact that the deal does not include an agreement for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel — according to reports — “is a sign of the loss of trust between Netanyahu and Trump.”

“The friction between them means that Trump acts without taking Netanyahu’s stance into account,” he tells Army Radio.

However, he notes that Saudi enrichment could have been acceptable had it been part of a normalization agreement, along with tight US supervision.