The alliance of the periphery was a foreign-policy strategy developed by Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion. In 1999, Meir Amit, the head of Mossad, described it as an "alliance with all the actors in the Middle East who are not Muslim Arabs".Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies, Joseph Alpher, Yossi Alpher, 2015, pp. 135,

History The term "periphery" was used due to the fact that non-Arabs and non-Muslims largely geographically encircled the Arab Muslim population in the Middle East.Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War, Roham Alvandi, 2016, pp. 71-72, The original 1958 alliance included Israel, Turkey, the Imperial State of Iran, and the Ethiopian Empire.Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies, Joseph Alpher, Yossi Alpher, 2015, pp. 7, However, the policy was also applied regarding the Druze, Kurds, Baloch, Berbers, Middle Eastern Christians, and the South Sudanese.Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies, Joseph Alpher, Yossi Alpher, 2015, pp. 136, Iran’s Influence in Afghanistan: Implications for the U.S. Drawdown, Alireza Nader, Ali G. Scotten, Ahmad Idrees Rahmani, Robert Stewart, Leila Mahnad · 2014, pp. 15, According to Baruch Uziel, the alliance would overwhelm the Arabs and end their imperialism, bringing peace to non-Arab and non-Muslim communities, and ultimately to the whole region. Uziel acknowledged the challenges to such an alliance, such as Islamism, and the Kurdish independence movement, but defended it claiming that "no new and bold idea has ever forged its way in a direct line and without curves."The Turkish-Israeli Relationship: Changing Ties of Middle Eastern Outsiders, O. Bengio, 2004, pp. 34,

While Israeli foreign policy generally pursued Israeli interests, Yossi Alpher claimed that "the sole exceptions were some of the links with minorities, where Israel's support reflected a genuine degree of both sympathy for and empathy with those suffering at Arab hands."Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies, Joseph Alpher, Yossi Alpher, 2015, pp. 73, Israel continued to pursue the alliance after its military victories over the neighboring Arab nations.Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Trita Parsi, 2007, pp. 90,

In 1949, Turkey became the first Muslim-majority state to formally recognize Israel.Kanat, K. B. “Turkish-Israeli Relations during the Cold War.” Israel Studies Review 31, no. 2 (2016): pp. 132. doi:10.3167/isr.2016.310208. In 1958, Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion and Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes held a secret meeting, in which they discussed the alliance, and exchanged intelligence and military support. Iran was also involved, but at a lesser extent.The Turkish-Israeli Relationship: Changing Ties of Middle Eastern Outsiders, O. Bengio, 2004, pp. 33, Turkey and Israel were mainly worried about the newly established Ba’athist regimes in Iraq and Syria.Lochery, N. “Israel and Turkey: Deepening Ties and Strategic Implications, 1995–98.” Israel Affairs5, no. 1 (1998): pp. 46. doi:10.1080/13537129808719497. Iran, Turkey, and Israel established a pact known as "the Trident" in 1958. In 1967, Turkey called for Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories, but refused to join the Arabs in condemning Israel as an "aggressor state." At a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Rabat, Turkey opposed a resolution calling for Muslim states to sever diplomatic relations with Israel. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the OPEC oil embargo however caused a cooling of the alliance.

The 1979 Iranian revolution was a major setback for the policy. The new government of Iran severed relations with Israel and withdrew recognition. Iranian leaders such as Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly called Israel an "illegal entity" and even called for its destruction. Israel made several attempts at reestablishing the alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Israel funded and armed Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, and assisted Iran in the sale of its oil.Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Trita Parsi, 2007, pp. 104. Turkey facilitated relations between Israel and Iran. Iranian Jews living in Israel would visit Turkey, mail their Israeli passports back to Israel, and enter Iran using their Iranian passports. Iranian government officials flew to Israel from Turkey, and did not stamp their passports.Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Trita Parsi, 2007, pp. 9, 26.

As Turkey and Iran were the pillars of the alliance, the Kurds did not play a big role. However, Israel actively supported the Kurdish separatist movement in Iraq.Kurds and Their Struggle for Autonomy: Enduring Identity and Clientelism, Mehran Tamadonfar, Roman Lewis, 2024, pp. 234, Neither Turkey nor Iran wanted a Kurdish state on their borders, although Israel supported the Kurds in Iraq in the 1960s with approval from Iran. Ben-Gurion urged Mossad to support the KDP "without stepping on Iranian and Turkish toes." Since the late 1950s, Mossad and SAVAK had cooperated to support Kurdish groups in Iraq. Israel recognized the relevance of supporting Kurdish separatism in Iraq only, purposely disregarding the Kurdish separatist movements in Turkey and Iran. Israeli support for Iraqi Kurds began after Abdulkarim Qasim came to power in 1958 in response to Qasim's support for a Palestinian state.Power struggles in the Middle East: Unveiling the Iranian-Egyptian Cold War, Alessandra Cecolin, Journal of Global Faultlines, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 48-50, 2025 Eliezer Tsafrir, senior Mossad veteran, claimed that Israel supported the KDP under Mustafa Barzani against Iraq, although never supported the Kurds against Turkey or Pahlavi Iran.Minasian, Sergei. "The Israeli-Kurdish Relations." 21st Century, vol. 1, no. 1, 2007, pp. 23.

See also Foreign relations of Israel Armenia–Israel relations Azerbaijan–Israel relations Israel–Turkey relations Neo-Ottomanism Turkish support for Hamas Turkish–Islamic nationalism Iran–Israel relations Israel–South Sudan relations Ethiopia–Israel relations Israel–Somaliland relations Israel–Kurdistan Region relations Israel–PKK relations Iran–Israel proxy conflict Arab–Israeli alliance Indo-Abrahamic Alliance Arab-Islamic nationalism Prometheism, a 20th-century Polish political project to weaken the Russian Empire

Notes

References

External links Whither the Persian-Jewish alliance? Trita Parsi Treacherous Alliance By Trita Parsi