Israeli officials are closely monitoring the recent statements from Trump and admitted they were caught off guard. However, despite the apparent US green light for the Saudi nuclear initiative, Israeli reactions have remained relatively calm.
"The president won't be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component," the Israeli official told Israel Hayom. "He doesn't have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn't include Israel or that moves forward without its consent." He confirmed that the Americans had made inquiries with Israel regarding its position, but chose to advance the initiative after determining that Israel could not meet Saudi demands regarding the Palestinians.
According to a report by Reuters on Thursday, the US has dropped its demand that Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for moving forward with civilian nuclear cooperation talks. The report, based on two sources familiar with the matter, comes just days before Trump's planned visit to the kingdom.
Two senior officials close to the president recently said in closed-door conversations, the content of which reached Israel Hayom, that Trump had decided to stop waiting for Israel and to move ahead with initiatives in the Middle East without coordinating with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel Hayom also recently reported that Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are expected to agree on several regionally significant issues during their upcoming meeting, issues that are highly relevant to Israel, but according to Saudi and American sources, Israel will not be a party to those understandings.
Washington's decision to drop the normalization requirement represents a significant reversal. Under the previous Biden administration, the nuclear talks were part of a broader framework that linked Saudi ambitions for a US defense pact to formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
