The weakening of American hegemony, the rise of China, Russia’s threat to Europe, and ideological opposition to Israel require Israel to reassess and update its relations at the global level. Israel’s current posture in the global environment has achieved significant successes but suffers from three main shortcomings: excessive dependence on the U.S., an inability to project sustained power, and a lack of investment in soft power. In the near future, Israel could find itself in a crisis without sufficient U.S. support, exposed to maritime threats from regional states and terrorist organizations, and isolated amid anti-Israel trends.
The proposed strategy rests on four dimensions: ideological, political, economic technological, and military. In the political dimension, Israel’s relationship with the U.S. should shift from dependence to partnership, based on local production, regional integration, and joint technological projects. In parallel, Israel should invest in its relationships while differentiating between three circles: The circle of ideological allies that share similar values and can form a new political values bloc; The Western circle, including threatened democracies such as Taiwan and South Korea, as well as Germany and Japan; The circle of additional non Western states.
In the economic dimension, Israel should leverage its advantages as a geo strategic hub and become a regional infrastructure center for goods, energy, and data. Key steps include investing in fiber optic infrastructure and data centers, offering incentives to attract foreign investment, and implementing regulatory reforms to facilitate business. This approach can create international dependence on Israel, reduce domestic costs, and strengthen its economic power base.
In the military dimension, the strategy proposes moving from point counter capabilities to sustained power projection. Emphasis is placed on developing an advanced naval arm, including unmanned vessels as a cost effective and flexible solution to protect trade routes and deter distant adversaries. At the same time, independence in armaments should be ensured through local production, inventory management, and international collaboration.
In conclusion, this chapter presents a vision of Israel as a state capable of self defense, projecting power regionally and beyond, positioning itself as a regional economic hub and diversifying its alliances in the international system.
