Netanyahu surrounded by fawning US Congressmen and women following his speech at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a \u201cNATO-style\u201d military alliance in the Middle East to counter Iran and its influence, in a revived Israeli effort to gather newly-friendly regional states under its leadership and within its sphere of influence.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the United States\u2019 Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu urged for the creation of a regional alliance in the Middle East which should include countries that \u201chave made peace with Israel and those that will make peace with Israel\u201d, with the joint aim of confronting Iran\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n
Stating that the alliance \u201cwould be a security coalition in every sense of the word,\u201d Netanyahu envisioned it as \u201can extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords,\u201d referring to the normalisation of diplomatic relations<\/a> with Israel by various Arab states over the past few years, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE<\/a>), Bahrain<\/a>, Sudan<\/a> and Morocco<\/a>. He suggested that such a pact be named the \u201cAbraham Alliance\u201d.<\/p>\n During his address to US Congress, Netanyahu gave the example of Iran\u2019s firing of hundreds of missiles toward Israel, which was rapidly countered by not only Tel Aviv and American forces, but also with the help of regional states such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The region already \u201csaw a glimpse of that alliance\u201d on that night, the Israeli premier said.<\/p>\n