Israel’s Soft Power Is Its Hard Power

Israel’s Hard Power Is Its Soft Power

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Analysis:

Israel’s Soft Power Is Its Hard Power

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Analysis

Israel’s Soft Power Is Its Hard Power

The Israeli government’s greatest source of diplomatic influence is the popularity of its military equipment.

!Vohra-Anchal-foreign-policy-columnist18

*Vohra-Anchal-foreign-policy-columnist18*

*Anchal Vohra*

By **Anchal Vohra**, a columnist at *Foreign Policy*.

!A man walks near the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) pavilion during the 2023 Dubai Airshow at Dubai World Central - Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai on November 14, 2023.

*A man walks near the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) pavilion during the 2023 Dubai Airshow at Dubai World Central - Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai on November 14, 2023.*

A man walks near the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) pavilion during the 2023 Dubai Airshow at Dubai World Central - Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai on November 14, 2023. KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

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September 11, 2026, 8:54 AM

The billions of dollars that Israel will rake in from a recently announced defense deal with Greece will greatly help the Israeli economy after the country has fought three different wars in the past three years. The benefits, however, far outweigh the pecuniary relief. For a country increasingly isolated on the global stage, defense deals have proved the most reliable answer to its search for allies.

For decades, Israel has steadily approached countries beyond its immediate neighborhood that it sees as hostile. This year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to a hexagonal alliance: Israel, Cyprus, Greece, India, and two unnamed Arab and African countries, presumably including the United Arab Emirates. In recent years, Israel has expanded defense relationships with all of these countries.

The billions of dollars that Israel will rake in from a recently announced defense deal with Greece will greatly help the Israeli economy after the country has fought three different wars in the past three years. The benefits, however, far outweigh the pecuniary relief. For a country increasingly isolated on the global stage, defense deals have proved the most reliable answer to its search for allies.

For decades, Israel has steadily approached countries beyond its immediate neighborhood that it sees as hostile. This year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to a hexagonal alliance: Israel, Cyprus, Greece, India, and two unnamed Arab and African countries, presumably including the United Arab Emirates. In recent years, Israel has expanded defense relationships with all of these countries.

“In the vision I see before me, we will create an entire system, essentially a ‘hexagon’ of alliances around or within the Middle East,” Netanyahusaid in February. “The intention here is to create an axis of nations that see eye to eye on the reality, challenges, and goals against the radical axes, both the radical Shiite axis”—referencing Iran and its proxies—“and the emerging radical Sunni axis,” referencing Qatar, Syria, and Turkey.

The alliance Israel wants is still elusive; for now, it is a patchwork of bilateral defense deals. Yet a new economic alliance is shaping up: the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which would go from India to the UAE and then through Israel to Greece, bypassing Turkey. However, it remains unclear if Saudi Arabia is still on board and if and when this trade route will become a reality.

Israeli strategists believe that with or without IMEC, these nations’ need for Israeli defense kit is so grave and their dependence on Israel so great that they can hardly be expected to criticize the country in diplomatic forums.

Israel’s growing defense partnerships are essentially telling of a reality in which countries prioritize their national and security interests but also that not everyone finds Israel as incorrigible when it comes to Palestine. They have all condemned the bloodshed in Gaza but also condemned Hamas. All of these nations support the Palestinian cause and see no contradiction between supporting a Palestinian state and growing ties with Israel.

The $3.5 billion deal with Greece is welcome news for Netanyahu, who is engaged in a fierce fight for his political survival with main rival Gadi Eisenkot in preelection polling and is widely blamed for the decline in support in allied countries. It gives the incumbent prime minister a chance to show the Israeli electorate that at a time when Israel is losing ground in several traditional bastions of support, it is gaining it elsewhere.

Apprehensions over Turkey’s rise and expansion of defense industry are a shared concern among Israel and its defense partners. Israel fears Turkish expansion in Syria since Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former rebel and jihadi, toppled Bashar al-Assad and invited the Turkish military to build up its presence in the country. India sees Turkey as a supporter of Pakistan—its archenemy—and the UAE has been suspicious of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sympathy and ideological support for the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam, which it sees as a threat to its monarchy.

For Greece, it is trickier to contain a fellow NATO member. But a range of disputes over the status of islands, airspace control and maritime claims, and Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus—which spilt the island in two—have long vexed Athens. Last month, Greek F-16s were scrambled after a Turkish drone entered what Greece considers its national airspace. Tensions intensified over potential gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean. In case of conflict, Greece fears facing off against NATO’s second-largest armed forces and Tu