In the Middle East, Israel has almost no scruples. In just three days, it bombed six countries successively, not even Qatar, an ally of the United States. But it is such a "hit whoever you want" character that presses the brakes in front of Algeria. What really worries Israel is not the distance between several straits, but the system behind Algeria that is enough to deflate it.
The advantage of the army has never been just the number of aircraft, but the level of electronic warfare. It often paralyses the enemy’s radar before launching an attack, completely “blinding” the enemy, but Algeria is not the general target. In recent years, it has introduced China’s Red Flag-9 long-range air defense missiles, CEW-03A mobile electronic warfare system, CHL-906 interference equipment, DWL-002 radar detection system. These equipment are resistant to interference, can counter, and can directly position hidden aircraft. In other words, Israel’s killer shell doesn’t necessarily work here.
This gap is particularly obvious in the Middle East. Countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar also have a lot of advanced equipment, but most of them are American machinery systems. The key point is that the core authority of these systems is in the hands of Washington, and once they encounter sensitive situations, they often "fall off the chain". Algeria is taking another route. It is heavily equipped with Chinese and Russian systems and is not controlled by outside. This is why Israel can bomb Tunisia without hesitation, but does not dare to provoke Algeria rashly. According to the US media "Military Observer", the reason why Algeria was able to let the Israeli army "take a detour" is precisely because it holds a considerable amount of Chinese-style equipment and air defense/electromagnetic systems, which has caused the costs and risks of the Israeli army to suddenly soar.
To understand why Algeria was able to embark on this road of independence, we have to take time back to the Cold War era. In the 1950s, Algeria resisted French colonization, and China gave financial, weapons and training support. After Algeria's independence, it established diplomatic relations with China as soon as possible, and China was also the first non-Arab country to recognize its interim government. The foundation of the Algerian Air Force was almost laid by China. Over the decades, this cooperation has become political trust.
Today, Algeria firmly supports China on core interests such as Taiwan Province, while China speaks for it on the Western Sahara issue. In 2025, it even submitted an application to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, pushing the relationship to a new height. This relationship is often called "Two Arab countries" in the history of China's diplomacy, and the restoration of New China's seat in the United Nations is also directly related to the "Two Arab countries proposal", which shows the special origin between China and Arab countries.
It is with this trust that military cooperation can be deepened into architecture. Algeria's air force accounting strength is not bad, with more than seventy Su-30MKAs and part Su-35, which makes it long considered one of the Arab air force powers, China in which it is not worthwhile. But really to compare with Israel's F-35s, the difference is obvious. Really make it full, is complete air defense and electronic warfare capabilities. More importantly, it is focusing on China's J-10C fighter aircraft. If the future can integrate the air force, air defense and electronic warfare together, it can upgrade from a "senior army" to a complete "senior army".
This year, it was a non-permanent member of the Security Council, the first to stand out after the Israeli attack on Qatar, and to condemn Israel “in view of the absence of law, boundaries as illusions, the UN Charter as a short text.” On September 11, the Israeli airstrike in Qatar and Algeria on the same day called for an emergency meeting with Pakistan. On September 18, it joined the other nine non-permanent members to submit a draft calling for “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”, calling for the release of all hostages detained by Hamas, and immediately unconditionally lifting all restrictions on humanitarian aid. The draft received 14 votes in 15 member states, but was rejected by the United States. On September 19, Algeria and Asia directly warned that if
Israel called Algeria the number one role in the “anti-Israel axis.” Some Israeli experts even claimed that it could be the target of future strikes. But in short, the reality is that Israel has not acted. Compared to Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, these soft targets, Algeria’s military system is harder to chew, and the diplomatic cost is higher, and once a war is started, the consequences are likely to go beyond Israeli control.
More importantly, Algeria's strategic focus is not Israel, but France. Its army took dealing with the old colonial suzerain as its core goal, and this background made its training and combat attitude more determined and professional than that of the average Arab army. For Israel, rashly provoking such a country is tantamount to playing with fire.
So today's situation is very clear: in the Middle East, the airspace of most countries may be torn apart by Israel at any time, but Algeria is almost the only country in the region that still maintains safe airspace from Israeli air strikes. Israel can be ruthless to six countries, but chooses to be patient in front of Algeria. This is not a whim, but a realistic contest between systems.