Political distance from the neighbouring Arab states drives Israel to seek broader political support and economic cooperation partners. While it approaches supranational cooperation in a rather distant manner, it maintains close bilateral relations with the US and the EU. But contacts are also being established with countries in Africa and Asia (something very important for the region
Since the founding of the state and its international recognition by the United Nations (UN) and most of its member states, including the Soviet Union and the US, in 1948, Israel has been involved in highly complex global relations that have changed many times since then.
On the one hand, Israel is a close ally of many countries around the world; today, in particular, it maintains a strong alliance with the countries of the West, above all the United States, but also the EU and its member states. Israel has many supporters and admirers, often very passionate ones, not only at the diplomatic level but also at the social level, and not only in the West and in the Jewish communities of the diaspora, but throughout the world and, hard as it may be to believe, in Arab countries too. It should be noted that Israel has undergone remarkable economic development since the 1940s, from a developing country de facto dependent on foreign aid to a leading global technological power, something that has become evident over time and that was a key factor in sustaining its position within the region (even during the COVID-19 pandemic). This growing economic weight is reflected at the political level in Israel’s thriving trade and cooperation networks with Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. Today, Israel is a central regional power in the Middle East. Militarily and economically, together with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, it is one of the strongest states in the region, and (so far) the only nuclear power there. It also has important strategic alliances with Egypt, Jordan and, informally, with several Maghreb states and Arab states of the Gulf region. Following the Abraham Accords, it established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and signed a normalisation agreement with Sudan.
