Israel is “diplomatically isolated,” a Feb. 5 Associated Press news story ventured, framing its Olympic bobsledding team as “unlikely ambassadors” in a lonely diplomatic desert.
At the United Nations, where Israel is treated like an international pariah and condemnation flows like Iranian oil, the outlet’s description of the Jewish state as “diplomatically isolated” deeply resonates.
But outside hallowed U.N. institutions, that characterization rings hollow.
Against the backdrop of looming war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Feb. 25 Jerusalem visit as a step toward Israel’s creation of a “hexagon of alliances — around or within the Middle East.”
MODI LANDS IN ISRAEL DURING PEAK OF IRAN TENSIONS, SUGGESTING STRIKE DELAY
Netanyahu listed members of what he called the “axis of countries that see reality,” including Greece, Cyprus, and unidentified Arab, African, and Asian countries.
Indeed, around the world, Israeli diplomacy is thriving on the political, economic, security, and technology fronts despite more than two years of war.
The 2020 Abraham Accords that built ties between Israel and Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and later Kazakhstan, have withstood both the grinding Israel-Hamas war and Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
Remarkably, efforts are underway to expand the agreements to Israel’s longtime enemies, Syria and Lebanon. Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is also a formidable candidate. Despite their loud condemnations of Israel’s June 2025 attack on Iran, both Saudi Arabia and Jordan quietly cooperated with American and Israeli forces to defend the Jewish state against Iranian ballistic missiles.
“Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military,” the Washington Post revealed last October, naming Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, among others.
Netanyahu cited the Abraham Accords as the spirit behind the Jewish state’s December 2025 recognition of Somaliland. In 2025, many African nations stood firm in their friendship with Israel. Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Seychelles, Gabon, and Guinea-Conakry launched caucuses with Israel.
In recent weeks, Israel, Greece, and Cyprus signed a trilateral agreement deepening military ties.
Israel is riding a wave of warming Latin American ties, prompting Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to dub 2026 “The Year of Latin America.”
Last November, inspired by the Abraham Accords, Argentine President Javier Milei launched the Isaac Accords to expand the Jewish state’s ties in Latin America. In December, Israel revived its relations with Bolivia.
Last month, Honduran President Nasry Asfura, of Palestinian descent, visited Jerusalem, where Sa’ar praised the nations’ growing collaboration.
Days later, Germany approved a massive expansion of its contract with Israel Aerospace Industries, committing an additional $3.1 billion for the Arrow 3 missile defense system, marking Israel’s largest military export deal in history and a shot in the arm to bilateral relations.
With 2024 defense sales reaching $18.4 billion, Israel achieved its fourth consecutive record-breaking year. Abraham Accords countries the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco accounted for 12% of sales, versus 3% in 2023.
That sum was dwarfed by December 2025’s $35 Egyptian-Israeli gas deal, Israel’s most lucrative export contract.
This month, the European Union approved Google’s $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz.
All these Olympic-sized economic successes — each one well beyond reach for even the pluckiest diplomatically isolated nation — contributed to Israel’s ranking as the third top-performing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development economy, according to the Economist.
Even at the hostile U.N., Israel’s diplomacy scored a big win.
In November 2025, Security Council Resolution 2803 adopted President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The resolution explicitly endorses Trump’s 2020 “Peace for Prosperity” plan, which embraces traditional Israeli positions, including legitimization of Israel’s West Bank settlements.
Moreover, in a significant break from past U.N. positions, the resolution conditions the possibility of Palestinian statehood on Palestinian Authority reform: “After the PA reform program is faithfully carried out … the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
NETANYAHU CALLS FOR DISMANTLING OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT IN US-IRAN DEAL
In other words, the U.N. resolution echoes preferred Israeli-U.S. frameworks.
At the U.N., where heated words condemning the Jewish state amount to little more than hot air, the mirage of Israel’s diplomatic isolation thrives. The real story of Israel’s burgeoning diplomacy is gloriously unfolding around the world — with considerably less media fanfare but with extraordinary, tangible returns.
Tamar Sternthal is director of media research and analysis for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America and director of its Israel office.