Israeli press review: US-Saudi nuclear deal slammed as Netanyahu's 'failure'

Israeli press review: US-Saudi nuclear deal slammed as Netanyahu's 'failure'

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Nadav Rapaport
on
Wed, 07/22/2026 - 14:44

Meanwhile, President Herzog warns of threats to Israel's upcoming elections, and a former National Security Ministry official faces indictment over illegal gun licences

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Jewish Heritage Centre at an abandoned Palestinian airport in occupied East Jerusalem on 5 July 2026 (Ilia Yefimovich/AFP)

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Israel alarmed by Saudi nuclear push

Anger and fear swept Israel on Wednesday after the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with a civilian nuclear programme.

According to the reporting, US President Donald Trump approved one of the landmark policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, granting Riyadh a 30-year civilian nuclear deal that could allow uranium enrichment in the kingdom.

Israeli politicians took to social media to voice their concerns regarding the agreement, with some stating that it harms Israel's security interests and signals yet another failure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear programme will end with nuclear weapons and will lead to a frantic arms race throughout the entire Middle East," said Avigdor Liberman, leader of the right-wing opposition Yisrael Beytenu party.

"The State of Israel must state clearly and unequivocally: we will strongly oppose this," Liberman added, urging Israeli action in the US Congress to block the deal.

Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing The Democrats party, accused Netanyahu directly, saying the prime minister "both lost normalisation with Saudi Arabia and enabled its nuclear capabilities".

For years, Israel viewed normalising ties with Saudi Arabia as a key foreign policy goal, hoping to bypass a deal with the Palestinians. But Riyadh repeatedly insisted it would not do so without an Israeli‑Palestinian peace agreement.

Now, Golan stated, Israel may face "a dangerous reality" where Saudi Arabia could possess an unsupervised nuclear programme, adding that Netanyahu "has weakened Israel militarily and politically".

Golan said that Netanyahu turned the country "into a pariah state" that watches from the sidelines, "while others make decisions that will affect its security for decades to come".

Benny Gantz, leader of the right-wing Blue and White party, also said the emerging deal harms Israel's security, adding that Netanyahu's "extremist government keeps missing, time and again, opportunities to change the Middle East".

'Elections are not a civil war', Herzog says

President Isaac Herzog warned on Tuesday evening that the integrity of Israel’s 27 October elections may be at risk, saying senior officials have alerted him to serious threats targeting the vote.

Herzog, whose position is largely ceremonial, stated that the Shin Bet internal security agency and the Central Elections Committee had informed him of "various threats to the integrity of the elections", both from home and abroad.

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Herzog also addressed internal divisions amid an emerging heated and fierce campaign.

"Elections are a test for Israeli democracy, and they are also a test for the unity and cohesion of Israeli society," he said.

"I call on public representatives, activists and all candidates, from all parties, and I demand: do not cross red lines. Do not turn rivals into enemies," he added.

Speaking ahead of Tisha B’Av - a Jewish fast day marking the destruction of the two ancient temples according to tradition - Herzog issued a classic warning against internal division, urging Israelis not to repeat the cycles of infighting that doomed earlier periods of Jewish self‑rule.

"Twice in the history of our people, we merited to establish independent rule in our land. Twice we failed," Herzog said, urging citizens to "not repeat the mistakes of the past".

Herzog added that now Israelis "have a historic responsibility" to preserve the elections’ integrity, saying twice in his rather short speech that "elections are not a civil war".

Ex-official to be indicted over gun licences

The office of Israel's State Attorney will press charges, pending a hearing, against a former senior official in the National Security Ministry for illegally distributing gun licences, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Israel Avishar, who served as the head of the Firearms Department at the ministry, is suspected of fraud and breach of trust.

Avishar resigned in December 2023 after Haaretz exposed that the National Security Ministry led by Itamar Ben Gvir distributed thousands of gun licences against regulations.

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The State Attorney's Office said that in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, "unauthorised individuals issued some 23,000 conditional gun permits and 15,000 final gun licences", with Ben Gvir appointing 82 "temporary licensing officials" to expedite the process.

The report said that the 82 new officials, who came from the far-right minister’s circle, ignored regulations regarding the required shooting training a person must take before acquiring a licence.

Avishar's attorneys said that their client resigned from his post "due to a heated dispute" with Ben Gvir over the expansion of gun licences in Israel.

After 7 October 2023, Ben Gvir made easing regulations to expand Jewish gun holders one of his flagship policies, with Haaretz reporting that between then and September 2025, his ministry distributed about 200,000 licences.

While before October 2023, some 170,000 Israelis held a gun licence, according to Ben Gvir himself, since he began his "gun reform", over 240,000 Israeli citizens have acquired gun licences and are now holding a firearm.

"My policy is clear: a weapon in the right hand saves lives," he said in March as he expanded eligibility for gun licences to Jewish neighbourhoods in Jerusalem.

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