From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
PM to Shin Bet: We are creating new regional axis to counter Iran, Muslim Brotherhood
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel is working to create its own regional alliance to oppose Iranian and Muslim Brotherhood axes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a leadership conference of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.
The emerging alliance “includes many countries,” says Netanyahu. “Some visit us, even these days. Some — we visit them. I am talking about an entire circle that encompasses the Middle East.”
In the 1950s and 1960s, Israel pursued a strategy of making alliances with non-Arab states and entities on the perimeter of the Middle East, including Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia, and the Kurds.
Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu reiterates that Hamas must be disarmed, and that “it will happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way, but it will happen.”
Netanyahu addresses the outbreak of near-daily murders in Arab communities inside Israel, saying the stockpile of illegal weapons “must be reduced, it must be taken, because a stormy day may come.”
He hints that a terror threat could emerge from these communities, saying that “we always talk about guns being turned inward.”
“We want a country with law, and not a Wild West, and not a wild south, and not a wild north,” he says.
The Times of Israel Community.