Gideon Saar smiled as he cut the blue ribbon outside the newly inaugurated embassy of Nauru in Jerusalem. Israel’s foreign minister described the tiny Pacific island nation of some 12,000 people as “one of Israel’s greatest friends in the international community.”
Two days later, it was Slovenia’s turn, as Saar cut the ribbon on a new embassy in Ljubljana. He praised the new center-right government for standing by Israel in the European Union, especially after the country had previously been one of Israel’s harshest critics. A large business delegation was brought along to show appreciation.
There was no such celebration in London, where Israel faced one of its sharpest diplomatic rebukes in years: a coordinated move by the United Kingdom and 11 other countries to impose sanctions and trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel has had no ambassador in London for nearly a year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intended envoy, his chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, was barred from leaving Israel due to a criminal investigation, leaving the post vacant.
The split-screen moment reflects a broader pattern in Israel’s foreign relations: As traditional partners in Western Europe grow distant, losing patience with the settlement expansion and surging violence in the West Bank, the right-wing government is cultivating ties with smaller or what it sees as more ideologically aligned countries, redirecting its diplomatic energy to other arenas.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband tied the new measures, announced in parliament on Tuesday, directly to Israel’s decision to push ahead with the E1 settlement project, which critics say would cut the West Bank in two and close off the possibility of a contiguous future Palestinian state.
But the move is part of a longer-term shift. In September 2025, Britain, Canada, France and more than a dozen other Western states recognized Palestinian statehood. And this June, the UK, Canada, France, Norway, Australia and New Zealand announced a wave of coordinated sanctions targeting individuals and networks accused of financing and enabling settler violence.
Some of the states announced additional punitive measures: France barred far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, Italy opened an investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the treatment of detained activists, including Italians, after Israel intercepted an aid flotilla on its way to Gaza. The Netherlands declared both Ben Gvir and Smotrich “persona non grata” and approved its own ban on imports of settlement goods.
Not every proposal has succeeded, and Israel has so far managed to stall broader actions from the EU. For years, Israel used Viktor Orban’s government in Hungary to block EU measures. Now, following a change in leadership in Budapest, Slovenia has effectively taken Hungary’s place as Israel’s representative in Brussels. A push by France and Sweden for an EU ban on settlement trade was stalled, as were efforts to expel Israel from the EU’s flagship Horizon research program.
Dr. Rémi Daniel, from Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) says the one comfort for Israel is that Germany and Italy have so far stuck to statements rather than joining the sanctions. “They are the most important EU member states because they have the power to block plans at the European level,” he said.
But the trend was still concerning, he said, because looking at the balance of power within the EU, “the swinging center is going more against Israel.”
Even as ties with some Western European allies fray, others 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 arm agreements in Israel’s history. And in early 2026, Israel Aerospace Industries signed a $3.1 billion deal with Germany to expand its supply of Arrow missile interceptor systems.
Israel’s response to the new sanctions – and its attitude towards one of its oldest allies in general – has been openly combative.
Saar swiftly announced he would close the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, end UK training for Palestinian Authority security forces, and ban entry to a dozen British officials and lawmakers. “The British move is morally distorted and constitutes a blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Saar said Tuesday.
Netanyahu labeled the UK the “Islamic Republic of Britain” on a podcast last month and has accused French President Emanuel Macron of fueling antisemitism by recognizing a Palestinian state.
While relations with some Western allies cool, and even the friendly Trump administration in the United States appears to be growingly frustrated with settler violence, Israel has been pouring energies into other regions and redrawing its map of relationships.
Declaring 2026 “The Year of South America,” Saar has toured Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay and Colombia and restored relations with Bolivia, Chile and Honduras. He also opened a communication channel with Venezuela for the first time since 2009, sending rescue teams to assist with earthquake relief last month.
New Israeli embassies opened in Zambia, Estonia, Moldova, Fiji and Slovenia. And Israel became the first country in the world to recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent state. Somaliland then opened an embassy in Jerusalem, where fewer than 10 countries have embassies, including the US. Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared their intent to join the list.
Daniel Shek, a former Israeli ambassador to France, argues that this pivot comes at a real cost and says the government is damaging relationships built over decades on shared interests in economy, science, culture, security.
“They are sacrificing the alliances with the most significant countries,” he said. “If Saar thinks the Paraguayan economy can replace France as a partner for export and import, good for him.”
The countries involved in the sanctions, he said, are not ideologically hostile to Israel, just its actions under Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich. “France, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, are friendly countries fed up with this Israeli government’s behavior.”
Shek notes that the sanctions target the settlements, and not Israel itself, and that their practical bite, for now, is limited. Still, he says, they should not be underestimated.
“Once sanctions have been imposed, it is significant,” he said. “There are things that have been opened and cannot be put back in the bottle.”
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