From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Lapid: Letting Saudi Arabia develop civil nuclear capabilities will ‘lead to Mideast nuclear race’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Allowing Saudi Arabia to develop civil nuclear capabilities would be a significant mistake and “lead to a Middle East nuclear race,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid warns.
Speaking with Army Radio, the former prime minister says that he had “sat down with the Emiratis and they told me, ‘If the Saudis accept this – we will do it too.'”
US President Donald Trump signed a host of economic and bilateral cooperation agreements in Saudi Arabia yesterday increasing cooperation between their governments’ militaries, justice departments, and cultural institutions. The agreement includes a mammoth arms deal worth nearly $142 billion.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia and the United States are discussing a deal to cooperate on the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry. According to sources, the United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks.
Even without the normalization requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defense treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, however.
Agencies contributes to this report.
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