Israel's Netanyahu Unveils New Security Doctrine Ahead of Election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled an updated national security doctrine and displayed a map of rival regional alliances, laying out a security approach that prioritizes preemptive military action, expanded buffer zones and the pursuit of new regional partnerships.

The document, prepared with the support of Israel's National Security Council and released by the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday, comes just nine days before a parliamentary election that could end Netanyahu's tenure. The text sets out as official policy the prevention of identified threats through military action rather than a containment policy — a course already reflected in recent years as Israel waged multiple wars and carried out strikes against neighboring countries.

A strategy for political survival

The timing of the map's release carries particular political weight, as Netanyahu fights to stay in power amid criticism of his stewardship, an ongoing corruption trial and his handling of the October 7, 2023 attack and the wars that followed.

With the October 27 vote approaching, Netanyahu is working to reinforce his image as Israel's ultimate security hawk, hoping to win over voters who may dislike some of his other policies or conduct but still see him as the leader best able to protect the country.

Netanyahu, who received the backing of US President Donald Trump on Sunday, said at a press conference that Israel could face the prospect of a far less supportive Washington administration within two years, after Trump's presidential term ends.

"In two years, a president ... extremely hostile to Israel could come to power [in the US]," Netanyahu warned.

He argued that Israel must therefore "expand the network of alliances and develop capabilities that make us a valuable asset" to other countries, as a way of protecting itself should US policy toward Israel change.

Analysts say the remarks show Netanyahu seeking to cast his leadership as essential both to confronting regional military challenges and to managing Israel's diplomatic isolation, while reassuring anxious voters.

Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Carnegie Middle East Center's Malcolm H. Kerr Center, explained that the strategic presentation focused on competing regional blocs and buffer zones.

That framing "feeds and stirs fears of existential threat, making Israeli voters feel they need a decisive leader," Hage Ali said.

In his assessment, Netanyahu benefits from Israeli public fear of regional threats by presenting himself as the familiar leader capable of managing them — becoming, as the analyst put it, "the devil you know" for voters reluctant to embrace political change at a sensitive moment.

Netanyahu's political rivals were quick to push back on that argument.

Gadi Eisenkot, one of the prime minister's main challengers in the upcoming election, said the published doctrine was just "two empty pages full of slogans that have nothing to do with a security concept."

Another rival, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, described the document as "superficial."

Expanding security zones

The map displayed at Netanyahu's press conference was originally published in May by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German political foundation. It divides the Middle East and part of Africa into competing blocs, highlighting the region's tangled web of alliances and rivalries.

These networks include states, unrecognized entities and non-state actors.

The map identifies an Israel–United Arab Emirates (UAE) link, described as a "Hexagon Alliance", alongside a separate grouping of Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — the last three having signed a joint Mecca defense pact in August — labeled the "Sunni Diamond Alliance". It also depicts Iran and its regional allies as a separate axis.

The map illustrates the issues set out in the published security doctrine, presenting a region where Israel faces multiple threats, the alliances it seeks to build across the wider area, and the perceived need for "buffer zones" — the occupation of territory in other countries.

Israel's unlawful occupation of territory in Gaza and southern Lebanon shows the potential consequences of expanding the buffer-zone approach.

Hage Ali warned that continuing to pursue an approach based on expanding military control could lead to "more conflict and more ethnic cleansing" under the guise of security buffers.

Reaching out to regional factions

A notable element of the map Netanyahu displayed was its explicit designation of non-state actors as friendly entities.

The map highlights areas controlled by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army, placing them within a linkage seen as cooperating with Israel and the UAE.

Israel views these actors as pragmatic partners, or at least cooperative entities within a broader strategic network, Hage Ali explained. However, publicly tying these groups to Israel risks damaging their domestic standing across the Arab world.

That reflects Netanyahu's immediate priorities, as "what Israelis think matters more than the reputation of the allies and the viability of these alliances," Hage Ali added.

Portraying the Middle East as a region split into competing alliances also carries risks for Netanyahu's broader diplomatic ambitions.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu proposed a "hexagon of alliances", envisioning cooperation among Israel, India, Greece, Cyprus and unnamed Arab, African and Asian partners to counter regional alliances he described as "radical".

The proposed grouping has not been established as a formal alliance, and commentators in Israel and the international press have described the project as more of a branding exercise than a binding military pact, noting that countries such as India prioritize non-alignment and pragmatic trade over rigid ideological blocs.

For Tehran and its regional partners, the map also offers strong political leverage.

Hage Ali stressed that the visual presentation "will certainly help their propaganda machine", giving Hezbollah and Iran's allies evidence to reinforce their argument that Israel seeks to expand and dominate the region.