Trump assured Netanyahu Saudi normalization is part of nuclear deal, says Israeli official

WASHINGTON — A senior Israeli official says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his meeting yesterday with US President Donald Trump, raised the civil nuclear agreement that Washington signed last week with Saudi Arabia.

Trump assured Netanyahu that he views the deal as part of the process of Riyadh normalizing ties with Israel, the official says in a briefing with reporters.

The day after the deal was signed, Trump declared that it would be retroactively conditioned on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords — something Riyadh has said it will not do unless Israel agrees to begin an irreversible process toward the creation of a Palestinian state — a non-starter for Netanyahu.

The Israeli official indicated Netanyahu would publicly express concern over the US-Saudi civil nuclear deal if he saw that it was advancing without Riyadh moving toward normalization with Israel.