Israel has diplomatic ties with 164 of the other 192 UN member states as of December 2020.[1] Israel is a member of the United Nations and a number of other international organisations. Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020, Israel signed agreements establishing diplomatic re
lations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco. As of 2021, Israel had formal diplomatic relations with 168 other countries, while twenty-eight U.N. member states have never established, or have broken off diplomatic relations with Israel.[2]
Israel's foreign relations are influenced primarily by Israel's strategic situation in the Middle East, the broader Arab-Israeli conflict and the conflict with Iran particularly over Iran's nuclear program, along with the rejection by regional states. Israel's foreign policy goals have therefore been to overcome diplomatic isolation and to achieve recognition and friendly relations with as many nations as possible, both in the Middle East region and further afield. Israel practices both open and secret diplomacy to further national goals, for example, commercial trade and science and technology cooperation, importing raw materials, engaging in military procurement as well as exporting arms and military assistance, intelligence cooperation with its allies, and prisoner-of-war exchanges and other arrangements for hostage releases. It has also sought to foster increased Jewish immigration to Israel and to protect vulnerable Jewish communities in the Diaspora, to offer aid to developing countries and humanitarian assistance to countries facing large-scale disasters.[3]
Israel's close friendship with the United States has been a linchpin of its foreign policy since the establishment of the state. Until the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979, Israel and Iran maintained close ties. Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation after Turkey.[4][5] In the mid-20th century, Israel ran extensive foreign aid and educational programs in Africa, sending experts in agriculture, water management and health care.[6] China is one of the few countries in the world to concurrently maintain warm relations with both Israel and the Muslim world at large,[7] and is important in Israel's foreign policy due to its global influence which integrates with Israel's pragmatic economic management, political stability, as well as its regional strategic importance in the Middle East.[8][9][10]
During the 2000s, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that the increasing influence of the European Union would further isolate Israel in global affairs.[11][12] In the wake of a series of diplomatic rifts with Turkey and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 2011, Israel had increasingly unfriendly relations with those countries for a few years.[13] During roughly the same period, Israeli relations with many countries in Europe including Greece and Cyprus in the context of the Energy Triangle and in Asia, including China and India, were enhanced, largely on account of the growth of Israel's high-tech economy.[14] Israeli ties with Egypt have improved since the Muslim Brotherhood was removed from power there, while ties to Turkey have been uneven since their 2010 nadir but less dismal than that point.
