Israel's diplomatic footprint: which countries recognise Israel

Israel has formal diplomatic relations with 163 of the 193 United Nations member states as of February 2026, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The figure has changed substantially over Israel's history, and the changes track Israel's strategic position more closely than any other single indicator. This piece sets out the baseline, the four big shifts since 1948, and the remaining gaps.

The baseline number

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains the official list. As of February 2026 it counted formal diplomatic relations with 163 countries, down from a peak of around 167 in 2024. The figure includes states with full ambassadorial-level relations as well as a smaller number where the relationship operates through accredited missions in third countries. The United Nations has 193 member states, plus two observer states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine), and a handful of widely recognised non-member entities.

A useful comparison: India has formal relations with 196 countries; the United States with 188; the United Kingdom with around 180. Israel's footprint is in the same broad range as most middle powers, but the path to that number is unusual.

How the map looked before 1991

For the first two decades after independence, Israel built relations widely. By the mid-1960s it had embassies across Western Europe, in much of Asia (excluding the Arab and most Muslim-majority states), in Latin America, and in newly independent African states where it ran an extensive technical-assistance programme.

That position was reshaped twice in quick succession. After the 1967 Six-Day War the Soviet Union and most of the Warsaw Pact severed relations with Israel. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War most African states followed suit under Arab and Soviet pressure, reducing Israel's African footprint to a small handful of states. By the mid-1980s Israel had formal relations with roughly 80 countries, a level it would hold until the end of the Cold War.

The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty was a substantial diplomatic gain in the Arab world but did not by itself trigger broader normalisation; Egypt remained, with brief exceptions, the only Arab state with full relations until 1994.

The post-Cold War reopening

The collapse of the Soviet bloc transformed Israel's diplomatic position in the space of a few years. The USSR resumed relations in October 1991, opening the door for the rest of the bloc. India established full relations on 29 January 1992. China followed two days earlier, on 24 January 1992. By the end of the 1990s, most of Africa had restored relations.

The 1994 Wadi Araba treaty added Jordan as the second Arab state with full relations to Israel. The Oslo process opened limited Israeli representation in several Gulf and North African states (Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar) through trade or interest offices, though these were largely closed again during the Second Intifada from 2000.

By the late 2010s, Israel's diplomatic footprint stood at around 160 countries.

The 2023 to 2025 Latin American contraction

The October 2023 Hamas attack and the war that followed produced the first sustained diplomatic contraction in three decades. Bolivia severed relations with Israel in November 2023 over its conduct of the Gaza war. Colombia, under President Gustavo Petro, broke off diplomatic relations in May 2024. Chile and Honduras recalled ambassadors but did not formally break relations.

The contraction proved partly reversible. Bolivia restored diplomatic relations on 10 December 2025 under a new centre-right government, ending a two-year rupture. Colombia's relationship with Israel remained broken through mid-2026, with the change of government at the 2026 Colombian presidential election widely expected to determine the next move. Net of these moves, the official MFA tally stood at 163 countries in February 2026.

The Abraham Accords

The Abraham Accords, signed at the White House on 15 September 2020, normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain. Morocco and Israel agreed to normalise on 10 December 2020, restoring relations that had operated at a lower level until they were downgraded in 2000. Sudan and Israel announced an agreement to normalise on 23 October 2020, with a "Declaration" signed in Khartoum on 6 January 2021; Sudan's domestic instability has held up full ratification.

The Accords were the first Arab-Israeli normalisations since Jordan in 1994. Their importance lies less in the number of new flags on the map (four) and more in what they signalled: that several Arab states no longer regarded Palestinian statehood as a precondition for normalisation with Israel.

Where the gaps remain

The 29 UN member states that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel as of February 2026 are concentrated in three groups, with overlap between them:

The Arab League non-signatories. Most Arab League members have no formal relations with Israel. The exceptions are Egypt (1979), Jordan (1994), the UAE and Bahrain (2020), Morocco (2020), and Sudan (announced 2020, unfinished). Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman do not have full diplomatic relations, though several maintain unofficial or third-country contact.

Muslim-majority states outside the Arab League. Iran (relations broken after the 1979 Islamic Revolution), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Indonesia (no formal relations but quiet contact), Mali, Niger and Comoros are in this category.

A small residual of other states. Cuba (broke relations in 1973), Venezuela (suspended in 2009), Colombia (broke off in May 2024 under President Petro), and North Korea.

The list shifts. Bolivia's December 2025 restoration is the most recent change of direction. Saudi Arabia is the most-discussed possible addition; the Trump administration that took office in January 2025 has openly pursued a Saudi normalisation as the next phase of the Abraham Accords, but as of mid-2026 no further normalisation had been signed.

Indicators of relationship depth

Diplomatic relations are a binary indicator (either present or absent). They do not capture the depth of a relationship, which is better tracked through trade, defence cooperation, mutual visits, and treaty instruments. Israel's deepest external relationships are with the United States, the European Union, India, and (within the Arab world) the UAE; its relationship with Egypt is a "cold peace" rather than a deep partnership. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes annual bilateral fact-sheets which are the best primary source for depth.

In one paragraph

Israel has formal diplomatic relations with 163 of 193 UN member states as of February 2026. The map is the product of four big shifts: a contraction after the 1967 and 1973 wars, an expansion after the Cold War (including India and China in 1992), the 2020 Abraham Accords, and a partial Latin American contraction during the 2023 to 2025 Gaza war (with Bolivia restoring in December 2025 and Colombia still suspended). Twe