Lapid says Israel must insist that US nuclear deal with Saudis not allow enrichment in kingdom

Opposition leader Yair Lapid says that Israel must demand from the US that any nuclear deal signed with Saudi Arabia bar them from enriching uranium on Saudi soil.

“Israel must demand from the US, our closest friend, that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia explicitly prohibits uranium enrichment on Saudi soil,” Lapid writes in a post on X.

Lapid says that was the stance Israel took when he was in government. “I expressed to the US administration our firm opposition to any attempt to allow uranium enrichment in the Middle East. This is how it should be done now.”

His comments come a day after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh that the US and Saudi Arabia will sign a preliminary agreement to cooperate over the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry.