WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - Israel and Saudi Arabia are a long way from a normalization agreement that would involve a defense treaty and a civilian nuclear program from the United States, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a CNN interview broadcast Sunday. "We're a long way from there. Israel’s religious-nationalist government has acknowledged setbacks in the normalization efforts, amid Saudi censure of its policies toward the Palestinians. And it depends upon the conduct and what is asked of us for them to recognize Israel," Biden said in the interview. Israel, which is outside the voluntary Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has no nuclear energy, is widely believed to have atomic weaponry.

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Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Fareed, Eli Cohen, ”, Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu, Dan Williams, Andrea Ricci, William Maclean Organizations: CNN, Fareed Zakaria's GPS, Israel’s Army, Israel Football Association, Saudi, U.S, Washington, Thomson Locations: Israel, Saudi Arabia, United States, U.S, Saudi, Riyadh, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Libya