Israeli Security Think Tank Identifies 14 Major Threats Facing the State

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, political circles in the occupied territories widely agree that Israel is facing new realities across security, political, and economic dimensions. They believe that the conflict with Iran and the Axis of Resistance, shifts in the Middle East, international pressures, and domestic challenges have created new hurdles for decision-makers regarding Israel’s future and its form in the coming decade.

In this context, the study group of the newspaper ‘Yedioth Ahronoth,’ in partnership with the Israeli National Security Institute, convened a National Security Conference on July 27, 2026. The event brought together politicians, senior officials from security and military institutions, researchers, and experts to examine the evolving security landscape in the occupied territories and map the threats facing the Israeli state.

For the first time, the conference presented the findings of the ‘Index of Threats Facing Israel,’ developed by the National Security Institute. This index is an extensive study that combines public opinion surveys from across the occupied territories with in-depth research involving over 100 experts in security, political, economic, and social fields.

The study maps the most prominent threats before the Israeli state, with Iran, Palestine, the international standing of the Israeli state, internal resilience, and economic challenges at the forefront.

The conference highlighted that the tense security environment in the occupied territories, coupled with Iranian attacks on the regime’s home front, conflicts on the northern front, and the increasing power of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, escalating tensions in the West Bank, threats from Yemen, and challenges posed by Turkey, represent the most significant dangers facing the Israeli state at this critical juncture. The outcome of domestic elections in the occupied territories, which all Zionist political factions deem decisive, adds to these risks.

In its assessment of the ‘Map of Threats Facing Israel in 2026,’ the conference concluded that Tel Aviv has experienced an unprecedented chain of crises in recent years, ranging from internal conflict over governance to the surprise attack on October 7th, followed by approximately three years of multi-front warfare and regional unrest.

The Israeli National Security Institute has assessed 14 different scenarios based on the severity of threats, probability of occurrence, and potential damage. From these, four scenarios across security, political, social, economic, and environmental domains were selected and identified as ‘the greatest threats to Israel in the next five years.’

The conference organizers placed four main threats at the top of the list of dangers facing the Israeli state:

• 1. The outbreak of violent conflicts among Zionist segments of the population (39%).
• 2. Iran acquiring nuclear weapons (39%).
• 3. Widespread missile attacks on the home front (35%).
• 4. The weakening of ‘Israel’s democratic character’ (31%).

The scenarios indicate that security challenges are not the only risks facing the Israeli state. The presence of ‘weakening the democratic character of the state’ among the four major threats underscores that internal cohesion in the occupied territories is a fundamental pillar of its security. Approximately one-third of Israelis rank this scenario among the top three most dangerous threats, with 68% believing its consequences will be severe, and 76% opining that the ‘cabinet’ is insufficiently prepared to handle the ramifications of this challenge.

Analysis of the challenges facing the Israeli state reveals that public opinion primarily focuses on direct security threats, while experts assign greater weight to long-term threats that impact society, the governance system, and the Israeli state’s international standing.

The study’s authors concluded: ‘For years, we were accustomed to asking a single question: What is the biggest threat facing Israel? However, this no longer appears to be the right question. The real question is: What will happen if multiple threats materialize simultaneously?’

Retired Major General Yuval Eyalon, the principal investigator of this study and a senior researcher at the National Security Institute, summarized the regime’s current situation: ‘This threat landscape is indeed complex; it’s not a single threat but the sum of all threats. What deeply concerns the public are internal threats and the loss of international support for the Israeli government.’