All eyes are currently riveted on Israel’s ground war in Gaza, but it’s not too soon to consider what is all too likely once the dust settles — a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize Israeli-Saudi relations. Before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden had already offered Riyadh a formal defense commitment and civil nuclear energy cooperation including enriching uranium — a process that can bring a state within weeks of acquiring a bomb. American, Israeli, and Saudi officials are still interested in sealing a deal.
This should cause pause. As Eric Gomez and I note in a piece for The Hill, “Improving Saudi-Israeli ties shouldn’t breed nuclear bombs,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has repeatedly threatened to build nuclear bombs to counter Iran. If Tehran and Riyadh build the bomb, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Egypt — all of which have nuclear technology thanks to cooperation agreements with the U.S. — will want nuclear weapons of their own.
At a minimum, this recommends weighing any U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal more seriously than current U.S. law allows — i.e., with little more than a presidential announcement. Instead, Congress should treat it as deliberately as it would any bilateral trade agreement — i.e., with majority approvals in both houses. This, in turn, would entail hiving off a U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal from whatever Israeli-Saudi normalization package the White House might recommend and considering it separately.
December 16, 2023
Author: Henry Sokolski and Eric Gomez
Improving Saudi-Israeli Ties Shouldn’t Breed Nuclear Bombs
All eyes are currently riveted on Israel’s ground war in Gaza, but it’s not too soon to consider what comes next — a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize Israeli-Saudi relations. Before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden had already offered Riyadh a formal defense commitment and civil nuclear energy cooperation including enriching uranium — a process that can bring a state within weeks of acquiring a bomb.
Is this the best way to weld a lasting peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel? Hardly. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has repeatedly threatened to build nuclear bombs to counter Iran. A Saudi Arabia with uranium enrichment sets up a risky proliferation cascade. If Tehran and Riyadh build the bomb, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Egypt — all of which have nuclear technology thanks to cooperation agreements with the U.S. — will want nuclear weapons of their own.
This should cause a pause. At the very least, it recommends weighing any U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal more seriously than current U.S. law requires — i.e., with little more than a presidential announcement. Instead, Congress should treat it as deliberately as it does bilateral trade agreements, which require majority approvals in both houses. Israeli-Saudi normalization should not be linked to a U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal. It should be hived off and considered separately.
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