Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defending a plan to use cryptoassets and blockchain as alternatives in the face of possible financial sanctions against Israel. The Bank of Israel opposes the approach, arguing that crypto should not be used to circumvent sanctions and that Israel should preserve economic relations with its main trading partners. Allied countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Spain, and the Netherlands, have already imposed or pledged sanctions, while Netanyahu says banking restrictions could intensify. The plan has been compared with the crypto strategies of Russia and Iran, whose use has been constrained by U.S. sanctions and the freezing of about $1 billion in Iranian funds, while crypto activity in the Middle East and North Africa declined by 1.4% in 2026.
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