Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for the creation of a new regional alliance he calls a “hexagon alliance”, naming countries such as India, Greece and Cyprus as part of the idea.
Launch Al Jazeerathis alliance is claimed to bring together countries with similar interests and security views to face what Netanyahu calls a “radical axis” in the Middle East.
In his statement on Sunday (22/2/2026), Netanyahu said the alliance was designed to fight two poles that he considered threatening regional stability, namely the radical Shiite axis and the radical Sunni axis. Apart from Israel, he mentioned India, Greece and Cyprus, as well as a number of other Arab, African and Asian countries which he did not specify.
“In the vision that I see before me, we will create a whole system, basically a ‘hexagon’ of alliances around or within the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.
However, until now no country has publicly expressed official support for the plan. A number of analysts assess that this idea is difficult to realize in the form of a formal alliance and is more of a political narrative.
Netanyahu’s remarks came ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to Israel. Modi earlier emphasized that India values friendly relations with Israel that are built on trust, innovation and technological cooperation.
However, observers believe that India tends to be pragmatic and unlikely to be tied into alliances based on an ideological axis, in line with New Delhi’s tradition of non-aligned foreign policy.
Meanwhile, Israel in recent years has also strengthened cooperation with Greece and Cyprus, especially in the fields of energy and defense.
In 2025, Greece agreed to purchase 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel worth around US$760 million (around Rp. 12 trillion). The two countries also discussed a follow-up defense package estimated at US$3.5 billion (around Rp. 55 trillion).
However, both Greece and Cyprus are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. This condition is considered to be a political and legal obstacle to the formation of a closer alliance.
Associate professor of security studies at King’s College London, Andreas Krieg, believes that the “hexagon” concept reflects more of an image effort than a real alliance framework.
“This is not an alliance like NATO, but rather a way of packaging existing relationships and partnerships to be seen as a new strategic bloc,” he said.
Observers also assess that this initiative cannot be separated from the domestic political pressure facing Netanyahu, ranging from the polemic on judicial reform to the legal process over a number of corruption cases. Ahead of the general election, the idea of an alliance is seen as an attempt to show that Israel is not completely isolated diplomatically.
Independent Israeli political analyst, Ori Goldberg, said that Israel’s deteriorating image due to the prolonged conflict makes it difficult for plans for a major alliance like this to attract real support.
“In conditions like these, the ‘hexagon’ alliance looks more like a fantasy world than a plan that can actually be realized,” he said.
(luc/luc)
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[Gambas:Video CNBC]