Balochistan is desperate to gain independence from Pakistan as mass protests in that province have turned into a volcano of rage against Islamabad. In fact, a war is underway between the Pakistan Army and various Baloch armed groups. In such a situation, Israel is reportedly providing covert support to the Baloch rebels.

War broke out in West Asia when Israel and the US jointly launched a military operation against Iran on February 28, 2026. Significantly, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a prominent Washington DC-based think tank specialising in international affairs, released a report, titled Balochistan Studies Project’, concerning the southwestern Pakistani province just a day before (on February 27) the West Asia conflict began.

Since June 12, 2026, MEMRI has been consistently publishing articles, photographs, research papers and survey reports concerning the situation in Balochistan. In most of them, Balochistan is being portrayed as a natural friend of the Western World. Most importantly, Colonel Yigal Carmon, who co-founded the MEMRI in 1997, is a former Israeli military intelligence officer and counter-terrorism adviser. He spent the first 20 years of his career with Mossad. Since 2012, there have been numerous allegations against the think rank of passing intelligence inputs to the Jewish Nation. Political analysts believe that the shrewd Israeli colonel founded the MEMRI in Washington DC in 1998 mainly to gather secret information that would serve Israel’s interests. Currently, several Arabic, Persian and Turkish media outlets are translating and publishing articles on Balochistan from Colonel Carmon’s website.

Mir Yar Baloch is one of the prominent figures of the nationalist movement in the southwestern Pakistani province. He declared Balochistan’s independence from Pakistan, citing decades of state oppression, military violence and Human Rights violations, in a post on X in May 2026. He also called on countries and international organisations to recognise the Republic of Balochistan as an independent country, urging the UN, ASEAN, African Union, OIC and European countries to stop referring to Balochistan as a province of Pakistan. Mir has been using social media as a tool to expose the various misdeeds of the Pakistan Army for a long time. MEMRI recently appointed this Baloch nationalist and Human Rights activist as its Special Adviser.

An opinion piece, titled Balochistan: Israel’s Strategic Blind Spot published in The Times of Israel blogs by Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez, sparked regional debate in January 2026 as the author framed the resource-rich, insurgency-hit province of Balochistan as a key geopolitical pressure point regarding Iran and Pakistan. In that article, Gomez, the retired Israeli Military Officer, mentioned several reasons for Tel Aviv’s concern regarding the Pakistani province. At the same time, he also backed the struggle for Balochistan’s independence.

Balochistan is important to Israel for three reasons. Geopolitical analysts and regional commentators associate strategic relevance of the Pakistani province to Israel primarily with countering Iranian influence, monitoring critical economic corridors, like CPEC, and accessing the region’s vast critical mineral wealth. Balochistan shares an approximately 900km-long border with Iran. Moreover, the area can be called the gateway to the Arabian Sea. In his article, Gomez stated that if the Baloch gained independence, Israel would have the opportunity to open an embassy in Quetta and monitor both Tehran and Islamabad quite easily.

Secondly, Balochistan is rich in mineral resources as vast reserves of natural gas, uranium, copper, coal and rare earth minerals lie hidden deep beneath its soil. If Balochistan gains independence, it will open the way for Israeli investment there. The move will not only boost the Israeli economy, but will also allow Tel Aviv to increase its influence in South Asia.

Finally, Gwadar is the most important seaport in Balochistan. China is actively developing the port and city of Gwadar as a core strategic node of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The distance between Gwadar Port and Chabahar Port of Iran is roughly 170km. Gomez believes that if China withdraws from Gwadar, Israel might attempt to fill the void. This would make it much easier to enhance trade relations with India and other Southeast Asian nations.

Balochistan, too, has multiple interests regarding friendship with the Jewish Nation. The Baloch rebels need state-of-the-art weaponry to wrest the entire province from the Pakistan Army and they could receive help from Tel Aviv in this regard. Defence experts are of the opinion that India plays an important role in Balochistan’s struggle for independence and it is quite difficult for Israel to assist the Baloch rebels without India’s support. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains a very close personal, as well as strategic, relationship with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the India-Israel friendship could act as a gamechanger for Balochistan.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das