What Are The Key Issues That Could Potentially Endanger Israel?
In 2006, I was able to travel to Israel for the first time. Even as a child, I had learned from my father about the spiritual legacy of the Jewish people, the land God had given them, and how He had protected them. And, best of all, during that amazing year, I was able to set foot on the land myself. There I began to meet and come to know Israelis as friends and allies, and to see with my own eyes the biblical heritage I had inherited as a Christian believer.
My introduction to the land of the Bible itself — and to the people I met — inspired me to stay far longer than I ever intended. In fact, I lived in Jerusalem for 10 years. That was the absolute limit to my visa capabilities, not to mention being away from my American friends and family for a decade. But during that inspiring and deeply informative time, I met several well-connected and loyally committed Israelis. One is my good friend and colleague Charmaine Hedding.
Charmaine is the president of Shai Fund and oversees their global operations, strategy, and partnerships. She has worked for two decades in development management for the nonprofit sector, with a particular focus on the protection of persecuted minorities in the Middle East and Africa, while advocating for freedom of religion and belief. I asked Charmaine to comment on some of the key issues presently confronting and potentially endangering Israel.
What is Israel’s primary threat?
Iran remains Israel’s greatest existential threat. Tehran continues to bankroll Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, drive missile and drone proliferation, and promote an ideology centered on Israel’s destruction. Even as the transitional government in Damascus has reduced Iran’s visible footprint inside Syria, its proxy networks remain deeply entrenched. Israel views these networks as red-line dangers, particularly in relation to Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, which poses the most immediate strategic danger on Israel’s northern front.
Why is Turkey an immediate destabilizer in Syria?
While Iran defines the existential axis of confrontation, Turkey is the most disruptive actor inside Syria today. Ankara has entrenched itself across the north, empowering Syrian National Army militias and Islamist groups that locals describe as abusive, sectarian, and unaccountable. In Christian, Yazidi, Kurdish, Alawite, and Druze areas alike, the same pattern emerges: imported mayors from Idlib, sidelining of minorities, land seizures, desecration of sacred sites, and engineered demographic change. These practices destabilize Syria’s fragile fabric and create conditions for extremist resurgence right along Israel’s borders. Some analysts are saying the next major conflict could be with Turkey and its proxy militias (in Syria).
Turkey’s growing role in regional destabilization is raising concern in Israel and beyond. President Erdogan, leading the Islamist-rooted AK Party, has amplified rhetoric against Israel — calling on Islamic nations to form an alliance against what he terms “Israeli expansionism.” Erdogan declared that “Jerusalem is a Turkish city” and promoted the idea that “Turkey is greater than its borders,” reflecting his expansionist ambitions.
— Support for radical groups: Turkey backs extremist factions in Syria, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) and exerts influence over Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
— Turkey’s proxy warfare: Through groups like the SNA and HTS, Turkey engages in hybrid warfare, gaining strategic depth in Syria and beyond.
— Turkey’s landgrab using safe zones and demographic engineering: Turkish-controlled “safe zones” in northern Syria are linked to forced demographic changes and widespread human rights abuses.
— Turkey’s support for Hamas: Turkey openly supports Hamas, refuses to recognize it as a terrorist organization, and has provided medical treatment for its operatives.
— Turkey’s neo-regional power projection/red apple vision: Erdogan’s ambitions extend into Libya, Somalia, and other unstable regions, aiming to position Turkey as a dominant Islamist power.
— BDS advocacy: Turkey remains active in anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns, further straining ties with Israel.
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Lela Gilbert is Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom at Family Research Council and Fellow at Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. She lived in Israel for over 10 years, and is the author of “Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner.”