The Battle for Access to AI Models is Israel's Next Strategic Challenge

The above title is for a policy paper issued by the Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) on July 1, 2026, by researcher Hadas Lorber. Specialists in Israeli national security issues consider Hadas's paper one of the most important papers published by the institute this year, 2026, because it simply reveals a qualitative shift in Israeli security thinking.

Previously, these institutions believed that Israeli superiority was achieved through: 1- possessing the best minds. 2- possessing strong startups. 3- close cooperation with the United States, enabling it to possess unique American weaponry not available to others in the region.

Now, the paper implicitly states, "Even if Israel is a close ally of Washington, its access to the most powerful AI models may not be guaranteed, as these models have become pillars and tools of American national security."

The researcher here relies on a specific incident: the US administration imposing restrictions on Anthropic on June 12, 2026, including restricting access to some of its advanced models, especially Fable 5 and Maythos 5, for users and entities outside and inside the United States for non-Americans, for national security reasons. The researcher adds that this event is not an exceptional case but represents the beginning of a new phase in international politics, where AI models themselves become a strategic asset subject to government control.

The researcher clarifies here that the concept of digital sovereignty previously focused on data, cloud computing, and internet regulation, but the new phase centers on sovereignty over access to advanced AI models. This means that possessing data or chips alone is no longer sufficient; rather, the ability to use advanced models may become a geopolitical leverage tool.

Accordingly, the paper believes that Israel is required to re-evaluate its policy in four interrelated areas:

* Technological sovereignty.

* Artificial intelligence.

* Computational infrastructure.

* National security.

It adds that complete reliance on American companies may turn into a strategic weakness in the future if Washington decides to restrict access to these technologies.

It should be clarified here that researcher Hadas's paper aligns with other papers and assessments recently published by interested parties around the world, especially Chinese and Russians. A comparison shows that this paper agrees with the papers of Russian and Chinese researchers on three axes.

1- Artificial intelligence has become a geopolitical weapon and is no longer just a computer program, but a strategic resource similar to:

* Oil in the 20th century.

* Nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

2- The United States has begun to monopolize technology, but while Chinese and Russian articles say that Washington may make AI part of national security, the Israeli paper says that this is already happening now.

3- Alliances are no longer enough.

Even the closest allies may be subject to restrictions if American interests conflict with their own.

Why are Israelis concerned?

Israelis are concerned because Israel relies heavily on American companies such as:

* OpenAI

* Anthropic

* Google

* Microsoft

If these companies operate according to US national security directives, then part of Israel's superiority will become dependent on a political decision in Washington, and this is what the paper considers a strategic threat that must be prepared for.

The broader strategic implication of the paper

I believe that the most dangerous thing in this paper is not what it says about Israel, but what it reveals about American strategy.

If the United States has indeed begun to control who can use advanced AI models, then we are facing a new phase that can be called:

"The era of AI diplomacy"

That is, access to AI models may become like:

* Exporting fighter jets.

* Exporting electronic chips.

* Exporting nuclear technology.

In other words, artificial intelligence is transforming from a commercial product into a tool of political and strategic influence.

In conclusion, the INSS paper confirms that Israel now believes that the battle of the future will not only be about possessing the latest warplanes, air defenses, and artificial intelligence, but about the right to access it. It reflects a growing realization that the United States may use advanced models as a foreign policy tool, even towards allies when interests diverge, an issue whose chapters we lived through after the signing of the US-Iranian memorandum of understanding last June, and that the concept of national security is no longer limited to weapons and economy, but also includes control over computational infrastructure and smart models themselves. In this sense, the paper is consistent with the trend dominating studies and papers of the most important research centers in the world, especially American and Russian ones such as Geopolitical Futures and Geopolitika.ru, that artificial intelligence is gradually becoming one of the most important determinants of power in the new international and regional systems.

This raises the legitimate question: where are we as Palestinians and as Arab and Islamic countries, especially those specialized in Arab national security, from these developments? And what are their explanations for Arab and Islamic national security in the era of artificial intelligence, which has clearly become one of the most important pillars of state national security, especially after the crimes of genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians and Arabs, crimes that have not yet stopped?