FILE PHOTO: Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament,, in Jerusalem, February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

i24 News – Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sunday posted on X (formerly Twitter) to slam a government minister who suggested Jerusalem could, in certain circumstances, give the nod to a Saudi nuclear program.

In recent months Riyadh and Washington have held talks on Saudi conditions for progress on normalization with Israel, including security guarantees and assistance with a civilian nuclear program with uranium enrichment capacity.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said that Israel could be open to the idea of a Saudi civilian uranium enrichment program as part of an Israel-American-Saudi normalization deal.

“Like so many things, the devil is in the details, and we’re going to have to look at what ultimately is agreed upon,” Dermer told PBS. “The Saudis could go to China or they can go to France tomorrow, and they could set up — ask them to set up a civil nuclear program and to allow for domestic enrichment.”

“They could do that tomorrow if they wanted to. So the question that I asked myself is, if the US is involved in this, what will that mean 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road, 30 years down the road, and what’s the alternative? There are other issues the Saudis have put forward,” he said.

Dermer, who is seen as a close confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, further added that there are “countries in the region that can have civilian nuclear power. That’s a different story than a nuclear weapons program.”

Lapid stated that such rhetoric compromises Israel’s security.

“You can reach an agreement that strengthens our national security without having to sign off on uranium enrichment in the Middle East,” Lapid wrote.

Netanyahu’s office issued a brief statement saying Israel has not agreed that “any neighboring country” start a nuclear program.