Saudi Arabia must recognise Israel to get its nuclear deal, says Trump

By ANDREW JEHRING, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:24, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 00:26, 24 July 2026 Saudi Arabia must recognise Israel to secure its civil nuclear deal with the US, Donald Trump has said. The President was criticised after announcing the agreement on Wednesday over fears it could enable the Gulf kingdom to obtain an atomic weapon. Experts warned there were not enough guardrails in place to prevent nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region. But on Thursday Mr Trump insisted the deal will see ‘no enrichment of material’ and ‘pertains only to non-military use’. He said it ‘will be approved’ then added it ‘is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords’. Mr Trump brokered the agreements in his first term which saw the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognise the Jewish state. Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since also signed on. The US leader is desperate to make Saudi Arabia join, which would represent a historic achievement in the Middle East.  In May he tried to force the kingdom to sign on as part of an Iran peace deal but was rebuffed. President Trump said Saudi Arabia must recognise Israel to secure its civil nuclear deal with the US Trump pictured with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back in May last year during bilateral meetings in Riyadh  Saudi Arabia has yet to respond to Mr Trump’s latest attempt to cajole it into joining the accords. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has privately signalled that it cannot recognise the Jewish state unless there is a path to statehood for the Palestinians.  The de-facto ruler would risk a ferocious revolt were he to normalise relations with Israel after it flattened Gaza and killed tens of thousands in the wake of the October 7 atrocities by Hamas. The crown prince has previously warned if Iran develops a nuclear weapon ‘we will follow suit as soon as possible’.  US media reports suggested the deal could allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium in future.