Gideon Saar smiles as he cuts the blue ribbon outside the new Nauru embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s foreign minister described the small Pacific island nation of about 12,000 people as “one of Israel’s greatest friends in the international community.”
Two days later, it was Slovenia’s turn, and Saar cut the ribbon on the new embassy in Ljubljana. He praised the new centre-right government’s support for Israel in the European Union, especially after the country had previously been one of Israel’s harshest critics. A large business delegation accompanied them to show their appreciation.
There were no such celebrations in London, where Israel faced one of its sharpest diplomatic rebukes in years. It is a coordinated move by Britain and 11 other countries to impose sanctions and trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel has not had an ambassador in London for nearly a year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intended special envoy, Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, was barred from leaving Israel pending a criminal investigation, leaving his post vacant.
This split-screen moment reflects a broader pattern in Israel’s foreign relations. As traditional partners in Western Europe become estranged and lose patience with settlement expansion and a sharp rise in violence in the West Bank, right-wing governments are focusing their diplomatic energies elsewhere, cultivating ties with smaller countries or those seen as more ideologically aligned.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband directly linked the new measures announced in Parliament on Tuesday to Israel’s decision to go ahead with the E1 settlement project, which critics argue will split the West Bank in two and close the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state in the future.
But the move is part of a long-term shift. In September 2025, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and more than 10 other Western countries recognized the Palestinian state. And in June this year, the UK, Canada, France, Norway, Australia and New Zealand announced a series of coordinated sanctions targeting individuals and networks accused of funding and enabling settler violence.
Some states announced additional punitive measures. France has banned far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, and Italy has launched an investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the treatment of detained activists, including Italians, after Israel blocked a relief convoy heading to Gaza. The Netherlands declared both Ben Gvir and Smotrich “persona non grata” and approved a ban on imports of the settlement products.
Not all proposals have been successful, and Israel has so far been successful in blocking broader EU action. For years, Israel used the government of Viktor Orbán in Hungary to block EU measures. Now, following a change of leadership in Budapest, Slovenia has effectively replaced Hungary as Israel’s representative in Brussels. Efforts by France and Sweden to ban the EU’s settlement trade have stalled, and efforts to expel Israel from the EU’s flagship research program, Horizon, have also stalled.
Dr. Remi Daniel of the Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) says the only consolation for Israel is that Germany and Italy have so far stuck to their statements by not joining the sanctions. “They are the most important EU member state because they have the power to block plans at European level,” he said.
However, he said this trend remains concerning, as the balance of power within the EU “tends the shaky center to be more hostile to Israel”.
While relations with some Western allies are fraying, other countries are deepening their alliance with Israel through defense trade. Last month, Israel signed a $3.5 billion air defense deal with Greece, one of the largest arms deals in Israeli history. And in early 2026, Israel Aerospace Industries signed a $3.1 billion contract with Germany to expand the supply of Arrow missile interception systems.
Israel’s response to the new sanctions, and its attitude toward one of its oldest allies, has been openly bellicose.
Mr. Saar quickly announced the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, the end of British training for Palestinian Authority security forces, and the banning of more than a dozen British officials and MPs from entering the country. “The UK’s measures are morally perverse and amount to blatant interference in the national affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Mr Searle said on Tuesday.
In a podcast last month, Netanyahu referred to Britain as the “British Islamic Republic” and accused French President Emmanuel Macron of stirring up anti-Semitism by recognizing a Palestinian state.
As relations with some Western allies cool and even the friendly Trump administration in the United States appears to be growing frustrated with settler violence, Israel is focusing its energies elsewhere and redrawing the map of relations.
Declaring 2026 the “Year of South America,” Prime Minister Sall visited Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Colombia, and restored relations with Bolivia, Chile, and Honduras. He also opened communication channels with Venezuela for the first time since 2009 and sent a rescue team to assist with earthquake relief last month.
New Israeli embassies were opened in Zambia, Estonia, Moldova, Fiji and Slovenia. Israel became the first country in the world to recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent state. Since then, Somaliland has opened an embassy in Jerusalem, but fewer than 10 countries, including the United States, have embassies in Jerusalem. Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of Congo have announced their intention to join the list.
Daniel Shek, a former Israeli ambassador to France, argued that this shift comes at a real cost, saying the government is undermining a relationship built over decades of shared economic, scientific, cultural and security interests.
“They are sacrificing their alliances with the most important countries,” he said. “If Mr. Searle thinks Paraguay’s economy can replace France as an import and export partner, that’s good for him.”
He said the countries behind the sanctions are not ideologically hostile to Israel, but only to Israel’s actions under Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich. “France, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands are friendly countries who are disgusted by this action by the Israeli government.”
Sheck points out that the sanctions target settlements, not Israel itself, and so far their practical impact has been limited. Still, he says they shouldn’t be underestimated.
“Once a sanction is imposed, it is significant,” he said. “Once opened, there are some items that cannot be put back into the bottle.”
