Why tying a Saudi nuclear deal to Israel is a strategic mistake

Why tying a Saudi nuclear deal to Israel is a strategic mistake Submitted by Dr Ahmed Altuwaijri on Mon, 07/27/2026 - 14:51 Saudi Arabia has made Palestinian statehood a non-negotiable condition for normalising with Israel, and demanding Riyadh reverse it for a nuclear deal risks weakening US influence US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington on 19 November 2025 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP) Off The future of US-Saudi Arabia relations may hinge less on grand declarations than on Washington's ability to distinguish between strategic interests and political aspirations. If the United States conditions a civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia on the kingdom's immediate accession to the Abraham Accords , it would be collapsing two fundamentally different policy objectives into a single diplomatic test. Such an approach may appear to increase American leverage.