Trump says ‘it’s time’ for Saudi Arabia to normalise ties with Israel

US president reiterates that the nuclear deal with the kingdom is conditioned on Riyadh joining the ‘Abraham Accords’.United States President Donald Trump has once again said that he will not go ahead with a civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agrees to normalise ties with Israel, under the so-called Abraham Accords.Asked on Friday whether the US Department of Energy got ahead of him when it announced the deal without the Israel condition earlier this week, Trump said: “No, nobody got out ahead.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3ICC prosecutor Karim Khan removed over ‘political’ sex abuse claimslist 2 of 3Saudi Arabia strikes Houthi-held Hodeidah, Yemeni group sayslist 3 of 3UNESCO places occupied West Bank, Lebanon sites on endangered heritage listend of list“I just say that in order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords, which have been very successful,” the US president added. “But it’s time now that they do it.”Washington and Riyadh had signed a nuclear cooperation deal to establish a civilian nuclear programme in the kingdom on Wednesday.But a day later, Trump announced a new condition on social media, saying that Saudi Arabia must first normalise relations with Israel.He reiterated that position on Friday.Trump said he did not talk about the accords with Energy Secretary Chris Wright ⁠before the deal was signed, “but it ⁠was always understood, and Chris knew, and Saudi Arabia knew”.Saudi Arabia has yet to respond to Trump’s latest statement tying the nuclear deal to normalisation.But Riyadh has long insisted it will not establish formal relations with Israel until there is a clear path for Palestinian statehood, which Israel’s current government staunchly opposes.The Trump administration initially framed the nuclear cooperation deal as beneficial to the US and Saudi Arabia without mentioning Israel.“These agreements reflect our two nations’ shared commitment to strengthening US-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Wright said in a statement on Wednesday.