ARTICLE

If Iran Goes Nuclear So Will Saudi Arabia And Turkey

News Image By Martin Oliner/JNS.org October 05, 2023
Share this article:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the U.N. General Assembly this year was memorable for being especially unmemorable. 

Netanyahu gained fame as an orator four decades ago when he served as Israel's ambassador to the U.N. He has since made a career of dramatic UNGA speeches that caught the attention of the world.

In 2012, Netanyahu displayed a cartoonish diagram of a bomb and then drew a red line on it to persuade the world to set the clear red lines needed to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.

Three years earlier, he drew attention to his speech by displaying original 1942 Nazi-era documents on the extermination of Jews, including the minutes of the Wannsee Conference that decided on the Final Solution and the blueprints of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps.

This year, he drew a red line showing the path to peace from Saudi Arabia to Israel, calling it "the new Middle East."


But Netanyahu's speech made international news only because of what his office called an unfortunate error by the prime minister. 

"Above all, Iran must face a credible nuclear threat," he said dramatically. "As long as I'm prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons."

Netanyahu's office put out a statement shortly after the speech saying he had misread the paper in front of him and actually intended to just say "a credible military threat."

But maybe it was no slip of the tongue. Maybe Netanyahu was telling the truth. 

It may not have been a threat to use actual nuclear weapons, but Netanyahu realizes that the military threat to Iran must be upped significantly to be effective, and his "mistake" accomplished that. He may have been bluffing again, but he knows that Iran's nuclearization is proceeding faster than others realize, making military action against Iran more urgent. 

The wider context of Netanyahu's speech is that it came at the conclusion of a week whose focus was on efforts to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That deal would purportedly enable the Saudis to obtain a civilian nuclear capability on condition that the U.S. would fully oversee and control it. This idea has been actively marketed and pushed by Netanyahu's two closest advisers--Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi.

It also came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) warned about Iran getting a nuclear bomb in a Fox News interview. 

"If they get one, we have to get one," he said, noting the need for "balancing power in the Middle East." 

U.S. President Joe Biden clearly wants an Israel-Saudi deal for his legacy. He may even win a Nobel Prize for brokering it.


But there is no doubt that, for his own legacy, Netanyahu needs to prevent Iran from getting a bomb, not give the Saudis one to compensate for the failure of his life's mission.

Netanyahu knows that Arab and Muslim leaders in the Middle East come and go. Just like Iran was once an Israeli ally, the Saudis can easily shift back to their age-old anti-Israel stance in a heartbeat.

As has happened in the Middle East before, all that is needed is one bullet from one of his countless enemies, and MBS is no more. Even if he lives and rules for a generation, what happens in the next generation or the one after? A maniacal anti-Israel tyrant could take power in Saudi Arabia and kick the Americans out.

How long would the Jewish state last after that?

MBS is not the only Arab or Muslim leader who says that if a neighbor gets nuclear weapons, he would also have to join the club. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hinted at it last week. Does anyone doubt that after the Qataris bought a World Cup, they would not buy a bomb? The UAE can easily afford one too.

The solution is not a costly and dangerous nuclear arms race but taking Iran out and ending the nuclearization of the Middle East once and for all. 

The Biden administration has proven that it cannot be trusted when it comes to implementing international agreements. Under Biden, the U.S. has neglected its Abraham Accords commitment to provide the UAE with the advanced Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, citing bureaucracy and other excuses. Commitments to Bahrain also remain unfulfilled. 


After the U.S. failed to keep its promises to the UAE and Bahrain, why would the Saudis or other potential Abraham Accords partners trust the Biden administration? They will only take risks to join if the U.S. is seen as reliable, consistent and having their backs.

As Netanyahu pointed out in his U.N. speech, the Abraham Accords were facilitated by mutual fear of the nuclearization of Iran by Israel and its partners.

"The common threat of Iran has brought Israel and many Arab states closer than ever before in a friendship that I have not seen in my lifetime," he said in both this year's speech and five years ago.

Therefore, the best way to advance peace in the Middle East is for the U.S.--and if not the U.S., then Israel--to take action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon that would cast a shadow over the region forever. If America took such a step, the Saudis and other potential allies will know the U.S. can be trusted as the leader of the free world. 

If the U.S. acts, then as MBS said, Saudi Arabia would not need a nuclear weapon. Other Arab and Muslim states would not need one either, and the world would be a much safer place.

The time has come to bring about true normalization in the "new Middle East." The time has come to make sure neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia, nor any other country in the region--aside from Israel--gets the bomb.

Originally published at JNS.org - reposted with permission.




Other News

June 17, 2025You'll Need Digital ID To Travel-Then To Live

Once embedded in our daily routines, digital IDs don't stop at airports or banking apps. They move into health care. Education. Employment...

June 17, 2025Iran's Missile Launchers Are Disappearing--And So Are Its Options

In the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, the skies are no longer contested. They are owned by Israel. However, Iran still has ...

June 17, 2025Scripture Is Healing Minds: How The Bible Is Reviving A Generation On The Brink

The American Bible Society's 2025 State of the Bible report has revealed something extraordinary: younger Americans who consistently engag...

June 17, 2025Western Media Silent As Slaughter of Christians Intensifies in Nigeria

This past weekend, the village of Yelewata in Nigeria was transformed into a furnace of unspeakable horror. Over 200 Christians, including...

June 16, 202510 Reasons This Is Not The Gog/Magog War Described In Ezekiel 38

As war rages between Israel and Iran, many believers are asking a serious question: Is this the war prophesied in Ezekiel 38--the apocalyp...

June 16, 2025Oil Markets On Edge: How Iran Could Send Prices Through The Roof

The specter of Tehran closing or severely disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has thrown oil markets and global economies into...

June 16, 2025Two Decades Of American Folly Made Israel’s Iran Strike Necessary

Like many, if not most, wars, the conflict between Israel and Iran didn't have to happen, and certainly, not in this way. That won't be th...

Get Breaking News