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Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition Yesh Atid party, denounced a newly signed nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, calling it one of the most damaging blows to Israeli foreign policy in the country's history.
In a post on the social media platform X, Lapid said the agreement would come to symbolize the erosion of Israeli influence in Washington, arguing that the Trump administration was pursuing its own interests without regard for Israeli concerns. "This agreement will become a symbol of the collapse of Israel's influence in Washington," he wrote, according to his post.
Lapid took particular issue with provisions he said would permit Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its own soil, a step he linked to the kingdom's long-standing interest in military applications of nuclear technology.
He also criticized the absence of any explicit Israeli demand tied to the deal, saying that a push to expand the Abraham Accords, the set of agreements that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, went unmentioned in the arrangement.
Calling the deal "a political disaster," Lapid said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was, in his words, abandoning Israel's security once again.
Lapid pointed to a similar proposal that surfaced in 2021, saying that then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had succeeded in blocking it at the time. He framed the current agreement as a reversal of that earlier success and evidence of diminished Israeli leverage over Washington's dealings with Riyadh.
The agreement in question, a so-called 123 agreement named for the relevant section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, was signed July 22 by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
It establishes a framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation between the two countries and has been submitted to the U.S. Congress for review, as required under U.S. law before it can take effect.
President Donald Trump has said the civil nuclear pact is contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a condition Riyadh has not yet accepted. Saudi Arabia has previously said it wants progress on Palestinian statehood before normalizing relations with Israel.
Lapid's remarks add a prominent voice from Israel's political opposition to the debate surrounding the deal, which is still pending congressional review.
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