Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a security doctrine advocating pre-emptive military strikes and buffer zones along Israel's borders, while displaying maps of supposed regional alliances that include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Iran, just days before Israeli elections.
The three-page document, titled "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Concept", was published on the Israeli government's website on Sunday and outlines the country's alleged principal security threats and 10 central principles reportedly guiding its military strategy.
The proposals drew sharp criticism from Israeli opposition leaders, who dismissed the document as superficial, filled with hallow slogans and an attempt to distract from Netanyahu's security failures ahead of the 27 October parliamentary elections.
The document was released as Netanyahu struggles in opinion polls and has recently acknowledged being "very worried" about his prospects of winning another term.
Opposition figures accused him of manipulating public fears and using regional security threats to divert attention from his government's failures and increasingly divisive election campaign.
Pre-emptive strikes and military expansion
In the document's introduction, Netanyahu argued that the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 had forced Israel into a wide-ranging war, claiming that Israeli military operations from Gaza to Yemen, Lebanon and Iran had averted what he described as the threat of imminent nuclear annihilation.
He also claimed that Israel had dismantled the "stranglehold" imposed by the so-called Iranian axis, despite the devastating consequences of Israel's military campaigns across the region, including its genocidal war in Gaza.
Netanyahu said the conflict had required a fundamental revision of Israel's security doctrine, prioritising offensive military action over containment and defence.
The document calls for "prioritising the prevention of threats and attacking them rather than containing them and defending against them", including pre-emptive strikes against emerging threats.
It identifies Iran, which Israel accuses of seeking nuclear weapons, as a principal threat, alongside what Netanyahu describes as its network of regional proxies, including Yemen's Houthis, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.
Precision-guided missiles, drones, electronic warfare and cyberattacks are also listed among Israel's major security concerns.
The document further identifies what it calls "domestic terrorism and internal enemies", international efforts to delegitimise and isolate Israel, and threats along its northern, eastern and western borders.
Among its central principles, the doctrine calls for maintaining Israel's military superiority, strengthening deterrence and early-warning capabilities, and preparing for preventive attacks.
It also advocates establishing buffer zones along Israel's borders where deemed necessary, although it does not specify their locations or which neighbouring countries could be affected.
Israel has already occupied additional territory in southern Syria and maintained military positions inside southern Lebanon, while continuing its occupation of Palestinian territory.
The document calls for strengthening Israel's domestic military industries to reduce dependence on foreign arms suppliers, while expanding its technological superiority in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and space.
It also seeks to deepen regional and international alliances and consolidate Israel's position as a regional power.
Under a section titled "Spirit of the People", the doctrine calls for strengthening national unity, preserving Israel's Jewish and democratic character, encouraging settlement in what it describes as the "Land of Israel", and strengthening ties with Jewish communities abroad.
The language on settlement comes amid continued Israeli expansion in the occupied West Bank, where settlements are illegal under international law.
The document does not provide a detailed operational strategy for confronting Iran.
According to Netanyahu's office, it was prepared with assistance from Israel's National Security Council and its head, Shmuel Ben Ezra.
Maps of regional alliances raise questions
During a presentation accompanying the document on Sunday, Netanyahu displayed a geopolitical map depicting what he claimed were emerging regional alliances and alleged threats to Israel.
The map, which carried the logo of Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation, identified a grouping of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan as the "Sunni Diamond".
It also depicted Iran and its regional allies as the "Axis of Resistance", alongside an Israel-UAE grouping described as the "Hexagon Alliance".
The graphic, originally published in May 2026 by researchers Marc Saxer and Marcus Schneider, also categorised countries and territories considered friendly to the competing blocs.
Somaliland and Puntland were depicted as territories considered friendly to Israel and the UAE, alongside Ethiopia, Djibouti and Greece. Somalia and its North East State, meanwhile, were shown as friendly to the Turkey-Egypt-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia grouping.
The presentation referred to an "Iranian-Shia axis" and a Turkey-linked Muslim Brotherhood axis as regional challenges.
Netanyahu also urged Israel to take advantage of the remaining two years of US President Donald Trump's administration to expand its alliances, warning that a future American government might be less supportive.
He acknowledged differences with Trump over Turkey and claimed Israel had acted to prevent Ankara from expanding its military presence in Syria.
"I hope we don't reach a direct confrontation," Netanyahu said.
The map also highlighted competing regional interests in the Horn of Africa, where Israel's growing relationship with Somaliland and the UAE's ties with Puntland have contributed to tensions with Somalia's federal government.
Israel recognised Somaliland as an independent state in December 2025, a move rejected by Mogadishu as a violation of Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Israeli opposition dismisses 'empty slogans'
The publication of Netanyahu's security doctrine prompted fierce criticism from opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Gadi Eisenkot, who accused the prime minister of attempting to conceal his government's failures, particularly those surrounding the 7 October 2023 attack.
In a post on X, Lapid described the document as "superficial and strange", saying it appeared to have been written using a free version of an AI chatbot.
He argued that the document offered no genuine national security strategy and instead sought to cover up Netanyahu's record.
Lapid criticised Netanyahu's refusal to establish an official commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding 7 October, as well as his inability to expand Israel's normalisation agreements with Arab countries.
He also accused the prime minister of contradicting his own security principles by allowing ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid military service, damaging Israel's international relationships and deepening divisions within Israeli society.
Eisenkot, who leads the opposition Yashar party, described the document as "two empty pages filled with slogans", arguing that it exposed the strategic vacuum created by Netanyahu's leadership.
He questioned why the prime minister had waited until nine days before the elections, and three years after the 7 October attack, to publish his national security vision.
Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of failing to achieve his stated military objectives, including dismantling the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, deterring Hezbollah, maintaining stability in the occupied West Bank and preserving domestic unity.
He also argued that Hamas continued to maintain armed forces in Gaza while Hezbollah was rebuilding its military capabilities.
Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of refusing to investigate the failures of 7 October or draw lessons from them.
He described the document's publication as another example of Netanyahu's political tactics, accusing him of "manipulating public consciousness, stirring fear and trying to divert attention from the series of lies and racism surrounding his election campaign".
Eisenkot pledged that an opposition-led government would prepare and approve a formal Israeli national security strategy within 150 days of taking office.