JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the new terms set by President Donald Trump regarding the nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.
Just hours after Trump said Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham/Abraham Accords to complete the deal, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, "Saudi Arabia's accession to the Abraham Accords will be a historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East."
It was Netanyahu's first public statement on the deal - which could allow the Gulf state to enrich its own uranium without international oversight - amid criticism from other Israeli politicians who called the deal a strategic disaster.
Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman wrote on the X platform, quoted by CNN, Thursday, July 23, a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia "will lead to possession of nuclear weapons and trigger an uncontrollable arms race throughout the Middle East."
The Abraham Accords was a major foreign policy achievement of Trump's first term, which marked the normalization of Israel's relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other countries.
However, Saudi Arabia has said it will only join the Abraham Accords if there is a clear path to the creation of a Palestinian state - something Netanyahu has publicly rejected.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump on Thursday, July 23, wrote that the deal that had been signed would be approved. But Trump said it "depends entirely on Saudi Arabia joining the highly respected and successful Abraham Accords."
On Wednesday, Energy Minister Chris Wright and his counterpart from Saudi Arabia signed an agreement that provides a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia.
The deal has drawn criticism from Israeli officials and is expected to come under sharp scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
CNN previously reported that the government had allowed the deal to be delayed for months due to concerns about the Iran war and potential rejection from Congress.
In his post, Trump stressed that there would be no nuclear material "enrichment". Saudi Arabia was previously reluctant to join the Abraham Accords - an initiative that began during Trump's first term and was expanded during his second term to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East.
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