Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday, October 22, 2026, that Israel could face international banking sanctions and said he has already ordered the preparation of alternative financial mechanisms, including blockchain technology, to keep the Jewish state's economy running under pressure.
Speaking in an interview with Channel 10, Netanyahu delivered a message of strategic clarity: Israel will not be caught off guard, and it will not beg. The prime minister also cautioned that tens of billions of dollars in American military aid, which he secured twice in previous deals with Washington, can no longer be taken for granted.
A Prime Minister Preparing for Every Scenario
According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu was direct about the threat he sees on the horizon.
“We need to understand that there could be banking sanctions. You need to prepare an alternative economic system, and you know what that is, and you know which currencies can bypass this, and I’m working on that as well,” Netanyahu said.
Asked whether blockchain could serve as a tool to circumvent economic sanctions, the prime minister confirmed the direction of his thinking. “One of them. Certainly. And I’ve already asked for a plan to be prepared for that,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.
This is leadership in the tradition of the state's founders: anticipate the storm before it arrives. When the British blockade strangled the Yishuv's economy before 1948, the pre-state Jewish community built its own manufacturing, its own shipping, its own currency of sorts in resolve. Netanyahu's blockchain plan belongs to that same Zionist instinct of self-reliance.
US Aid: A Warning About a Changing America
Netanyahu did not spare his audience an uncomfortable truth about Israel's most important ally.
“If you think we’re going to continue receiving what I secured twice, and that’s tens of billions of dollars in American aid for the defense budget, prepare yourselves and get used to the fact that it won’t happen, because America has changed,” he said, as Ynet News reported.
The statement is not a rejection of the alliance with Washington; it is a cold reading of American domestic politics. The friendship between Israel and the United States remains deep, but a strong nation does not build its security on another country's political weather. The lesson of Jewish history, from the exile to the 20th century, is that dependence invites catastrophe, and sovereignty demands redundancy.
Standoff With the Bank of Israel
Netanyahu also publicly rejected the warnings of Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron, who has cautioned about the growing burden of defense spending on the Israeli economy.
“I disagree with him. Unequivocally, I disagree with him,” Netanyahu said.
The disagreement cuts to a fundamental question facing the country after October 7: what price is worth paying for survival? For the government, the answer is clear. Victory over the enemies surrounding Israel, from Tehran's terror network to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, is not a budget line to be trimmed. It is the precondition for every other economic achievement.
Crypto Industry: Ready to Build With the Government
The crypto sector responded quickly to the prime minister's comments. Nir Hirschman, CEO of the Crypto Companies Forum, welcomed the development but stressed that the technology is not a hiding place.
“Crypto has the potential to strengthen Israel’s connection to global financial markets and streamline capital transfers. At the same time, the technology is not a haven for hiding money: public blockchain networks allow for transparency and tracking of transactions,” Hirschman said in an X post.
“The Crypto Companies Forum is ready to work with the government and regulators to promote appropriate reform in the field, to strengthen the economy and its ties with the world,” he added.
Israel's fintech and cyber sectors are among the most advanced in the world, a product of the same ingenuity that Unit 8200 has exported across the entire startup nation. If any country can turn sanctions pressure into technological advantage, it is this one.
Who Is Targeting Israel? The Surprising Answer
The backdrop to Netanyahu's warning is a new database from the Jewish People Policy Institute, which tracks sanctions, restrictions, and diplomatic measures against Israel worldwide. The country with the highest number of recorded measures is not Iran, not Turkey at the top, and not Ireland. It is the United States, with 15 recorded measures.
Spain follows with 10 measures, the United Kingdom with eight, Turkey with seven, and Belgium with five. Ireland, whose government has been among the most hostile voices in Europe toward the Jewish state, registers only three measures and does not even reach the top 10.
The JPPI data, as The Jerusalem Post noted, does not mean Washington is more hostile than Ankara or Dublin. It reflects the sheer depth of the US-Israel relationship: more trade, more academic exchange, more investment, and more political engagement mean more surface area for hostile legislative initiatives, congressional resolutions, boycott campaigns on campuses, and attempts to restrict weapons sales to Israel.
That complexity is exactly why Netanyahu's warning matters. Even Israel's best friends contain political currents that can turn against the Jewish state overnight. The measures documented in the American database include legislative proposals to restrict defense equipment sales and academic boycott calls from student associations and faculty organizations.
Jerusalem's Answer: Strength and Self-Reliance
Three thousand years ago, King David secured Jerusalem not by trusting in the guarantees of neighboring powers but by building his own strength. That example still holds. Netanyahu's message to the Israeli public is that the era of assumptions is over.
The government is now waiting on a concrete plan for blockchain-based financial alternatives, the crypto industry has offered its partnership, and the debate with the Bank of Israel over defense spending will continue as the war's economic costs mount. What is no longer in question is the direction: Israel intends to stand on its own feet, whatever the international climate brings.
FAQ
What did Netanyahu say about banking sanctions?
In an interview with Channel 10 on October 22, 2026, the prime minister said Israel must prepare an alternative economic system, including blockchain-based currencies, because banking sanctions against the country are a realistic possibility.
Did Netanyahu say US military aid to Israel will end?
He warned that the tens of billions of dollars in American defense aid he secured in past agreements should not be expected to continue indefinitely, because America has changed.
Which country has the most recorded measures against Israel?
According to the Jewish People Policy Institute's database, the United States leads with 15 recorded measures, followed by Spain with 10 and the United Kingdom with eight.
What is the blockchain plan Netanyahu requested?
Netanyahu confirmed he has asked for a concrete plan to use blockchain technology and alternative currencies to bypass potential banking sanctions, though no details of the plan have been published.