On Friday, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Pact, a move perceived by some analysts as a challenge to Israeli regional expansionism. Israel has yet to officially respond to the agreement.

Turkiye, often viewed as Israel’s emerging rival, along with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia—countries with which Israel has varying diplomatic ambitions—formalized this defence alliance amid ongoing regional turmoil.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently described Israel as a “burden that humanity can no longer bear,” comments that Israeli politicians, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, condemned as a “textbook incitement to genocide.” Additionally, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in June that Israeli military actions in Syria and Lebanon pose a direct threat to Ankara, emphasizing that "Turkiye’s security does not begin in Hatay [its southernmost province], but also in Aleppo, Damascus and Beirut."

Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, told Al Jazeera that for Riyadh, the ongoing conflict has underscored an uncomfortable reality: “American military power remains indispensable, but an American relationship does not guarantee immunity from attack and does not necessarily mean Washington will act according to Saudi priorities.”

Analysts from Haaretz have suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be leveraging Turkiye as a strategic rival to strengthen his security credentials ahead of the general election, where he is reportedly neck-and-neck with rival Gadi Eizenkot.

The implications of the Mecca defence pact for the broader US role in the Middle East remain uncertain.

Sources