Top Israeli official says country won't block Saudi civil nuclear program

Israel's national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Monday that Israel is not necessarily averse to an agreement that would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium for research purposes. 

"Egypt and the [United Arab] Emirates operate nuclear research centers, and these are not dangerous," he stated in an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.

Hanegbi addressed reports that Saudi Arabia is conditioning normalization with Israel on the United States helping it create a civil nuclear program, saying that Israel's consent was not needed. "Dozens of countries operate projects with civilian nuclear cores and with nuclear endeavors for energy. This is not something that endangers them nor their neighbors," Hanegbi explained.

Recent reports in the United States and in Israel suggest Saudi Arabia is setting three main conditions for its agreement to a normalization deal. One is a defense treaty between Saudi Arabia and the United States, including a commitment by the Americans to defend Saudi Arabia in case of an Iranian attack and the sale of F-35 fighter jets and advanced missile-defense systems. The second is for Israel to make meaningful concessions toward the Palestinians beyond pledging not to annex West Bank territories. The third is for Washington to facilitate Riyadh's establishment of a civil nuclear program. Reports by the New York Times over the past week indicate that contacts are ongoing for a normalization agreement. Still, President Joe Biden warned over the weekend that such a deal would probably not be reached in the near future. 

It is unclear for the moment whether Hanegbi's statement signals a shift in Israel’s policy on nuclear activity in the region or if it's an encouraging signal to Washington about its talks with Riyadh over normalization.

Last June, Israel's Energy Minister Israel Katz voiced cautious opposition to the idea of Saudi Arabia developing a civilian nuclear program as part of any American-mediated normalization deal. "Naturally, Israel does not encourage such things. I don't think Israel should agree to such things, but there are contacts underway," Katz told Ynet TV.

Institute for National Security Studies senior fellow Yoel Guzansky is a leading expert on Israel-Saudi relations and has been studying for several months the possibility of a Saudi nuclear program being part of a potential normalization deal. For him, the Saudi request is not something Israel should take lightly.

Guzansky told Al-Monitor, "Hanegbi was not accurate when he said that the Emirates already operates such a program. True, the United States and the Emirates signed an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperations 14 years ago and the Emirates also signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But in order to receive the American green light for installing nuclear power plants, the Emirates agreed to forego the whole enrichment part," he said.

"They agreed to forgo establishing an in-house nuclear fuel cycle. In other words, they have not developed nuclear technologies and are getting the enriched uranium ready made. Also, the Emirates are careful to keep the nuclear process transparent. All this guarantees that their nuclear program stays completely civil and that they don’t use nuclear technologies for military purposes," Guzansky added. 

For Guzansky, Saudi Arabia is a different story. "We know that the Saudis have already a nuclear program with a small research center. Also, interviewed on '60 Minutes' [in 2018], Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman clearly said his country would strive to obtain a nuclear bomb if Iran successfully develops its own nuclear weapon," he said.

“Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible," MBS said at the time.

Guzansky added that offering Saudi Arabia the possibility of enriching uranium could erode the positions of those negotiating a new nuclear deal with Iran. Other countries in the region, such as Turkey and Egypt, practically on Israel’s doorstep, could demand to be authorized to set up similar programs for uranium enrichment. 

Israel has its own nuclear program which is widely believed to have tens of nukes, even though the country has not officially acknowledged it publicly.