Israel’s Revamped Policy of Peripheral Alliances

By Nimrod Asulin, Middle East Online

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Today, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has reached a stalemate – one that shows no signs of breaking amidst a divided Palestinian leadership. Thus, there are new indications that Israel is changing its focus in order to cope with this new status quo. The old but new strategy for Israel is to solidify bonds with non-Muslim and non-Arab countries, based on seeking out other nations which also struggle against Islamic extremism while showing the potential for shared economic benefits. Israel’s interests will thus be served by committing to alliances that can substitute for the weakening strategic alliance once held with Turkey.

As a result, Israel has set its sights on Balkan states. Since 2010, Israel and Greece have experienced rapprochement in the wake of declining Israeli-Turkish ties and Greece’s economic doldrums. Most recently, Israel and Cyprus have capitalized on their blooming relations with enhanced economic and security cooperation with regard to their recently discovered natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Israel continues to maintain productive ties with Romania and other Balkan countries, which have manifested in recent joint military aerial drills.

Israel is expanding further still by forging relationships inside of Africa. Since 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other high ranking Israeli officials have been meeting with their counterparts from predominately Christian African nations, including Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Uganda, amongst others. While the aforementioned African nations can benefit greatly from Israeli knowledge in the fields of security, infrastructure development, agriculture, and water utilization, Israel is also likely attempting to hinder Iran’s recent economic interest in the African continent by establishing a presence and strong diplomatic ties in these nations.

As tensions have soared between Israel and Iran over the last few months, another stage of Israel’s strategy has surfaced – strengthening ties with Georgia and Azerbaijan. According to several reports, Israel is operating military and intelligence gathering stations in both countries, which are in close vicinity to Iran. Such stations may currently assist in alleged clandestine operations within Iran aimed at delaying the development of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Therefore Israel will likely continue with its peripheral strategy and focus efforts to enhance ties with the world’s most populated democracy – India. On January 9, India’s Foreign Minister arrived in Israel, the first time in a decade, to boost bilateral affairs. India’s rapidly growing economy, combined with its democratic character and ongoing conflict with Pakistani Islamic militant organizations, creates a natural environment for a security alliance to emerge amidst the already strong relations the two countries enjoy. One month after the historic visit, on February 13, an attack on an Israeli diplomat took place in India’s capital, New Delhi. Although all signs point to Iran’s involvement, Indian authorities chose not to reveal their findings up until March 16. Israel’s silence during this time should be viewed as proof that the Jewish State is willing to make sacrifices to secure India’s friendship and emphasize the new-found importance it is placing on the peripheral strategy amidst uncertainty in its immediate surroundings.

Nimrod Asulin is an intelligence analyst at Max-Security Solutions, specializing in Israeli foreign affairs.