WASHINGTON, October 17, 2026 — US President Donald Trump on Friday urged Saudi Arabia to accept Israel’s offer of assistance in its fight against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, suggesting that such cooperation could revive momentum for the Abraham Accords, and warned that the United States might have to strike a fortified Iranian nuclear site he called “Pickaxe Mountain.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for a rally in Georgia, Trump was asked whether Riyadh should take up Israel’s offer of help against the Houthis.
“Yeah, I do, sure,” the US president replied, according to pool reporters. “Israel has been very helpful to Saudi Arabia.”
Trump expressed confidence in his ties with the kingdom, saying: “I have a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia is going to be very good.”
Accords momentum ‘more than ever’
Asked whether long-stalled Saudi-Israeli normalisation could return to the agenda through the Abraham Accords — the 2020 deals that saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco establish ties with Israel — Trump answered: “Yeah, I think so, maybe more than ever.”
Earlier this week, a diplomatic source told an Israeli newspaper that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered Saudi Arabia assistance against the Houthis through US mediation, in a proposal also aimed at warming relations between the two countries, regional media reported.
In an interview on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked whether the Saudis had requested help and replied: “There are barely any Middle Eastern states that aren’t asking us for help.”
However, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly pushed back on the initiative, with regional media citing concerns that accepting Israeli military cooperation could trigger a public backlash inside the kingdom. Riyadh has consistently maintained in recent years that it will only normalise relations with Israel if a clear pathway to Palestinian statehood is established.
The ‘Pickaxe Mountain’ warning
Trump also addressed Iran’s nuclear programme, saying the United States might have to strike an underground facility known as Pickaxe Mountain to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Describing Iran’s underground nuclear infrastructure, the president said the country’s nuclear capabilities were buried beneath a massive mountain, and warned that Washington could “attack Pickaxe Mountain and destroy the site quickly,” according to reports of his remarks. He stressed at the same time that the US would not use nuclear weapons in its campaign against Iran.
The warning lands a day after Tehran rejected Riyadh’s accusation that it had encouraged the Houthis’ recent escalation. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday that claims of Iranian involvement were “not credible,” while reiterating Tehran’s standing offer to mediate between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Escalation shows no sign of easing
On the battlefield, the Saudi-led coalition said Friday it had intercepted and destroyed three drones over southern Saudi Arabia and Riyadh, along with two cruise missiles over the Red Sea, the Times of Israel reported. The Houthis have kept up near-daily attacks on Saudi airports and energy infrastructure, while the coalition has struck back at targets across Yemen.
Any direct Saudi-Israeli security cooperation would mark a historic shift in a region where the kingdom has long kept Israel at arm’s length — and would test the limits of public opinion across the Arab world just as the war over Iran’s regional footprint grinds on.
