Should Türkiye-Saudi together form a ‘Sunni alliance’ against Israel? Nuclear Pakistan is openly supporting

The world knows about the enmity between Israel and Iran, but the list of Israel’s opponents is much longer than this. Türkiye is also among those countries which Israel considers a threat to its security. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has recently warned that Türkiye is becoming a ‘new Iran’. He alleged that Türkiye is instigating Saudi Arabia against Israel and is trying to create a ‘Sunni Axis’.

According to Bennett, Turkish President Erdogan is conspiring to surround Israel from all sides by adopting a very clever and risky strategy. Where Iran has been carrying out attacks on Israel through organizations like Hezbollah and Houthi. At the same time, Türkiye is presenting a stronger and planned challenge by using its diplomatic credibility and economic power.

Sunni Axis and Saudi’s changing stance

Naftali Bennett’s main concern is about the emerging ‘Sunni Axis’ between Türkiye, Qatar and Pakistan. He says that Turkey has withdrawn Saudi Arabia from the process of normalizing relations with Israel. After the attacks of 7 October 2023, Saudi Arabia’s attitude became quite tough. Earlier, discussions were going on to improve relations between Saudi and Israel. Saudi Arabia was also reportedly under pressure from America to improve relations with Israel.

From time to time, there were reports that Saudi Arabia wanted to acquire nuclear capability at any cost and its talks were going on with America on this issue. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought to establish a civilian nuclear program for the country, although it was sometimes claimed that his real desire may have been to acquire nuclear weapons. But after the Hamas attack, this entire process came to a halt. After the Israeli campaign in Gaza, the strategic equations of the Middle East completely changed. Now the possibilities of a possible Saudi-Israeli agreement have almost ended and Saudi Arabia seems to be searching for new allies.

Nuclear power partnership between Pakistan and Türkiye

In September 2025, a strategic defense agreement was signed between Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, in which an attack on one would be considered an attack on both. Now Türkiye is also taking steps towards joining this alliance. Some experts are calling it Islamic NATO. Now sometimes it is also being claimed that Pakistan has talked about providing nuclear weapons to Saudi. Pakistan’s possible participation in this alliance is a matter of biggest concern for Israel. Bennett has called it ‘nuclear rear’ i.e. nuclear support. Experts are of the view that Türkiye can get strategic security from Pakistan in exchange for its military technology and economic help.

Not only this, Turkey, along with Pakistan, has also acquired rights like a naval facility on the Karachi coast, due to which there is a possibility of putting pressure on Israel’s trade routes in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Qatar’s role

According to former Israeli PM Bennett, Qatar’s role in this entire equation is like a cashier and propaganda machine. It is believed that Qatar is providing ideological base to this Sunni Axis through its economic strength and large media network. They allege that Türkiye and Qatar together are promoting ideologies like ‘Muslim Brotherhood’, which are a threat to Israel’s existence.

New challenge before Israel

Naftali Bennett says that the October 7 attack has shaken Israel’s traditional security strategies. Now only defensive policy will not suffice, rather there is a need to adopt active and aggressive strategy. According to him, despite being a member of NATO, Türkiye is creating a parallel security structure, which may go against the interests of Western countries and Israel.