How Many Countries Have Diplomatic Relations With Israel?
Israel’s State Comptroller published 161 countries with diplomatic relations, 103 missions abroad and 7 missions ordered closed, in its 2020 audit.
161 countries had diplomatic relations with Israel, on the count the State Comptroller of Israel published in its 2020 audit of Israel’s foreign affairs framework and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget. The same audit records 103 missions abroad, which is a count of posts rather than of countries. The 161 is the Comptroller’s own figure, stated in the course of auditing a budget rather than in a diplomatic register, and the audit prints no list of the countries it counts.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 161 | Countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, on the audit’s own statement | As at the 2020 audit |
| 103 | Missions Israel runs abroad | As at the 2020 audit |
| 35 | Other state agencies operating abroad, alongside the Ministry | As at the 2020 audit |
| About 4,500 | Staff across the foreign affairs framework | As at the 2020 audit |
| NIS 3.2 billion | Foreign affairs framework budget, all bodies | As at the 2020 audit |
| NIS 1.385 billion | Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget, being 0.29% of the state budget | As at the 2020 audit |
| 7 | Missions ordered closed | As at the 2020 audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 70B, chapter 209, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Framework and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Budget, 2020, English abstract.
The State Comptroller counts 161 countries with diplomatic relations
The State Comptroller of Israel states that Israel has diplomatic relations with 161 countries, in the English abstract of its 2020 audit chapter on the foreign affairs framework. The count is the audit body’s own, and it appears as an opening description of the scope of Israeli activity abroad, not as the output of a register maintained for the purpose. The audit gives one number, without a breakdown by region, by level of representation or by year.
Nothing in the chapter defines what level of contact qualifies as diplomatic relations, and the abstract sets no threshold beside the figure. What the entry supports is the number the Comptroller published and the date it published it.
Israel runs 103 missions abroad, alongside 35 other state agencies
The State Comptroller records 103 Israeli missions abroad, 35 other state agencies operating abroad and about 4,500 staff across the whole foreign affairs framework, in the same 2020 audit. These are the audit body’s own counts of Israeli state activity, and they are published as three separate figures rather than as one.
A count of missions is not a count of countries. The audit prints 161 and 103 in the same chapter without reconciling them, and neither figure may be substituted for the other: relations can exist without a resident post, and a state agency operating abroad is a third category again.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 161 | Countries with diplomatic relations | As at the 2020 audit |
| 103 | Missions abroad | As at the 2020 audit |
| 35 | Other state agencies operating abroad | As at the 2020 audit |
| About 4,500 | Staff, whole framework | As at the 2020 audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 70B, chapter 209, 2020.
7 missions were ordered closed as the Ministry’s budget fell
The State Comptroller reports that 7 missions were ordered closed, and sets the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget movements against the state budget over the same windows. On the audit’s own figures, the Ministry’s budget fell 14.7% in 2019 while the state budget rose 4.3%, and fell 14% across 2015 to 2019 while the state budget rose 25%. The Ministry’s NIS 1.385 billion sits inside a NIS 3.2 billion framework covering the Ministry and the other bodies operating abroad, and is 0.29% of the state budget.
The mission network therefore moves over the audit period while the 161 is published as a single undated-by-year figure. The two are not one series.
The Comptroller publishes no list of the 161 countries
The 2020 audit states the number and stops there. The State Comptroller names no country, distinguishes no level of representation, and publishes no count of states without diplomatic relations with Israel, which is the second half of what the question usually carries. The audit’s subject is the organisation and funding of Israel’s foreign affairs activity, and the 161 is a scope figure inside that subject.
Other Israeli bodies publish by country on other subjects. The Central Bureau of Statistics reported Israel’s goods trade by partner region and country for January to November 2025, and reported goods trade by country for 2021. Those are trade series, counting goods flows and not diplomatic ties, and they may not be read as a register of relations.
No Israeli body here publishes a count after 2020
The 161 is as at the State Comptroller’s 2020 audit. No later Israeli official publication drawn on here restates it, and no Israeli body publishes a dated series of the number of countries with which Israel holds diplomatic relations. Where a reader wants the figure for a specific later year, the record consulted here does not carry one.
That absence is what the record shows. The audit’s figure travels with its date and with the audit that produced it, and the page does not extend it forward.
Which figures here may not be added together?
Every figure on this page comes from the State Comptroller of Israel’s 2020 audit chapter, except the trade series named in the section above, which the Central Bureau of Statistics published.
- 161 countries and 103 missions count different things and may not be summed, netted or treated as a single network figure.
- 103 missions and 35 other state agencies are separate counts in the audit; the audit does not present their sum.
- The about 4,500 staff figure carries the audit’s own approximation and stays approximate.
- NIS 1.385 billion is the Ministry’s budget inside a NIS 3.2 billion framework, so neither figure describes the other.
- The budget movements are paired with the state-budget movement for the same window, and each Ministry percentage is reported with its pair.
Questions readers ask
How many countries have diplomatic relations with Israel?
The State Comptroller of Israel published 161, in its 2020 audit of the foreign affairs framework and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget.
Is 161 a current figure?
The State Comptroller stated it as at the 2020 audit. No later Israeli official publication consulted here restates or updates it.
Which countries are the 161?
The State Comptroller publishes no list. The audit gives the number and names no country.
How many countries do not have relations with Israel?
The State Comptroller publishes no such count in this chapter, and no figure for it is given here.
How many embassies and consulates does Israel have?
The State Comptroller recorded 103 missions abroad as at the 2020 audit. The audit uses the word missions and does not break them down by type.
Why is the mission count lower than the country count?
The State Comptroller publishes the two as separate figures and offers no reconciliation between them in the abstract.
Who else represents Israel abroad?
The State Comptroller reported 35 other state agencies operating abroad, alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its missions.
How many people work in Israel’s foreign affairs framework?
The State Comptroller counted about 4,500 staff across the framework as at the 2020 audit, an approximation the audit itself states.
What does Israel spend on foreign affairs?
The State Comptroller put the framework budget at NIS 3.2 billion, of which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget was NIS 1.385 billion, or 0.29% of the state budget.
Did Israel close any missions?
The State Comptroller records that 7 missions were ordered closed, as at the 2020 audit.
How did the Ministry’s budget move?
The State Comptroller reported a fall of 14.7% in 2019 against a 4.3% rise in the state budget, and a fall of 14% across 2015 to 2019 against a 25% rise in the state budget.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics publish diplomatic relations data?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes goods trade by partner country, most recently for January to November 2025. That is a trade series and not a count of diplomatic relations.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022. Israel’s Foreign Trade in Goods by Country, 2021. Media release 028/2022. cbs.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Israel’s Foreign Trade in Goods, by Country, November 2025. Media release 409/2025. cbs.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2020. Israel’s Foreign Affairs Framework and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Budget. Annual Report 70B, chapter 209, English abstract. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
