As the Trump administration engages in talks with Saudi Arabia that could lead to US support for a domestic nuclear program, a new article in Middle East Policy argues that Israel should support such a deal—even if it allows the kingdom to enrich uranium on its soil. The analysis by Niv Farago, as with all content in the journal’s Spring 2025 issue, is free to read, even without a subscription.
“Israeli security experts and leading figures across the political spectrum…have publicly denounced the Netanyahu government for what they suspect is a willingness to acquiesce to Saudi plans for an independent nuclear fuel cycle in exchange for bilateral relations,” Farago writes. “Although critics of the Netanyahu government are mostly proponents of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, they believe a Saudi nuclear capability could pose a grave threat to Israel’s national security.”
Farago contends that there is no denying the Saudis a domestic nuclear program and that China and Russia will step in to back their ambitions if Israel forces Washington to back away. The question, Farago says, is whether Riyadh will be subject to Western and international scrutiny.
To support his argument for a US-led deal, Farago examines previous American efforts, including Washington’s scuttling of Iran’s nuclear ambitions in the 1970s. He argues that Israelis should not look to that example, as there is a much different security environment today, and Saudi Arabia will have many more options to develop a nuclear capacity than did Iran a half century ago.
“The problem of double standards in American nuclear policy in the Middle East can be avoided by establishing extraterritorial, US-run enrichment and reprocessing facilities on Saudi soil,” Farago concludes. “This is opposed by Israeli security experts, who cite a possible coup by radical Islamists in Saudi Arabia. However, in their efforts to block what they perceive as a nuclear deal riddled with loopholes, these experts are also impeding Saudi-Israeli normalization and a potential US-sponsored alliance.”
All articles in the Spring 2025 Middle East Policy are free to read during the month of April.
The new issue features 10 original articles and three book reviews, anchored by coverage of post-Assad Syria, taking down myths that have erupted since the rebel victory and analyzing Turkey’s ascendance in the wake of the shocking ouster. Given the murky prospects for ending the Gaza campaign, the issue then explores Iran’s and Saudi Arabia’s confusing approaches to the war and whether China has fundamentally shifted its relationship with Israel.
The journal next takes a deep dive into Saudi Arabia’s potential security deal with the United States, including Israel’s reaction to Riyadh’s proposed nuclear capability, the China factor that motivates Washington’s pursuit of an accord, and whether the region could become a WMD-free zone. And we analyze peace building in postwar Yemen, demographic change and social cohesion in Iraq after the war against ISIS, and Pakistan’s security challenges since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan.
Readers can find the Winter 2024 issue through this link, featuring M.T. Samuel’s analysis of the Gaza war and Palestinian dispossession. The journal’s special releases on the post-October 7 conflicts, Israel’s Wars and The Gaza War, remain vital sources.
Middle East Policy, Spring 2025—all articles free through May 1!
SYRIA, GAZA, AND STIRRINGS OF A NEW ORDER
Myth Busting in a Post-Assad Syria
Rob Geist Pinfold
Turkey’s Long Game in Syria: Moving beyond Ascendance
Şaban Kardaş
Saudi Arabia and Iran: Spoilers or Enablers of Conflict?
Banafsheh Keynoush
Out of Proportion: Israel’s Paradox in China’s Middle Eastern Policy
Yitzhak Shichor
THE US-SAUDI PACT AND NUCLEAR SECURITY
How to Address the Saudi Nuclear Program? An Israeli Dilemma
Niv Farago
The China Factor in US-Saudi Talks for a Defense Pact
Ghulam Ali, Peng Nian
Negotiating the Impossible? A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East
Robert Mason
CIVIL WARS AND THEIR AFTERSHOCKS
Local Participatory Development Models for Postwar Reconstruction in Yemen
Asher Orkaby, Afrah Al-Ahmadi
Demographic Change and Social Cohesion in Post-Islamic State Iraq
Omran Omer Ali, Nazar Ameen Mohammed, Aurélie Broeckerhoff
The Taliban-TTP Nexus and Pakistan’s Rising Security Challenges
Shahid Ali, Raj Verma
BOOK REVIEWS
Florian Weigand, Waiting for Dignity: Legitimacy and Authority in Afghanistan
Reviewed by Sajjad Ahmed
Karel Černý, Instability in the Middle East: Structural Changes and Uneven Modernisation 1950–2015
Reviewed by Alper Çakır
Biden’s Gaza Failure, the Syrian Revolution, and the Folly of US Middle East Policy
Review essay by A.R. Joyce