The Saudis heard about the agreement and were furious that they had been surprised. Saudi officials demanded that their counterparts in the Emirates cancel the agreement, and offered an alternative deal in which Saudi Arabia would replace Israel in the project. 

Israeli officials have said that Saudi pressure has delayed the signing and softened some of the wording of the agreement.

The Saudi Arabian government has put heavy pressure on the UAE to cancel the "electricity for water" agreement signed with Israel and Jordan last Monday in Dubai.  

Last Wednesday, the agreement was unveiled as part of which a huge solar farm will be built in the Jordanian desert that will generate electricity for Israel. In return, a water desalination facility will be built in Israeli territory for the beach in the high school, which will produce water for Jordan. UAE companies will set up the two projects.

The agreement was made possible thanks to the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The agreement was reached after negotiations that lasted several months between the parties and is the largest cooperation project ever in the region on climate and renewable energy.