Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lit]

Feeling spurned by Turkey, Israel beefs up ties to Greece, others

By SHEERA FRENKEL
McClatchy Newspapers

JERUSALEM -- Newly divulged State Department cables confirmed this week what Middle Eastern diplomats have been whispering for some time: that Israel's long-touted partnership with Turkey is effectively broken.

The cables, released by the WikiLeaks website, help set the context for a major shift by Israel, which for the last two years has quietly intensified its military cooperation with Turkey's neighbor and rival, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/01/1 ... z16vYx7oad

[Lit]

Our Greek friends

By JONATHAN BECK
12/07/2010 06:04

Early Friday morning, fire-fighting planes and firefighters began pouring in from countries around the world, answering Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s call for help in fighting the largest forest fire it had ever known. Only hours before, the blaze claimed the lives of more than 40 people, most of them Prisons Service employees in a bus that got trapped in the flames.

The first arrivals were toy-like yellow planes, sent from Greece. They flew low over the Mediterranean, scooping up seawater. Then they moved inland, pouring the water over the flames.

Impressed by the speed of Athens’s response Netanyahu told reporters he “knew that the Greeks were our friends, but I didn’t realize what good friends they were.”

http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespot ... ?id=198323

[Get Real!]

So much for Israel’s technology purchased with billions of dollars handed to them annually by the US, yet they haven’t got any firefighting equipment!

All their enemies now know how to easily destroy them… fire!

[Lit]

Israeli defense industries in talks with Greek army
By YAAKOV KATZ
12/12/2010 03:51

Multi-million deal in the works to sell weapons system for Hellenic Air Force’s F-16 fleet.

In an effort to improve ties with Greece and create new military partnerships in the Mediterranean, Israeli defense industries are in talks with the Hellenic Armed Forces over a possible multi-million dollar sale of advanced weapons systems.

A senior Israeli defense delegation consisting of officials from the Defense Ministry and local industries recently traveled to Greece to discuss the deal, which could include weapons systems for the Hellenic Air Force’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=199013

[runaway]

Can someone tell me why all the fascists of this forum are now waving the Israeli flag on which they were spitting upon only recently?

Enemy of my enemy is my friend maybe?

[Lit]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, on a Greek Navy boat with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and his wife, August 2010. (Amos BenGershom / Government Press Office/FLASH90)


ATHENS, Greece (JTA) -- Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Arye Mekel, was on the phone with a journalist earlier this month when the call came in that Israel’s Carmel region was up in flames. The Israeli prime minister needed to speak urgently with his Greek counterpart.

Mekel quickly located Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Poland, where he was meeting with the Polish president. But a Papandreou aide told Mekel the meeting could not be interrupted.

“Tell him Bibi Netanyahu wants to speak with him urgently,” Mekel pressed, using the Israeli prime minister’s nickname.

A few moments later Papandreou was on the phone. In just hours, five Greek firefighting planes were in the skies along with a cargo plane loaded with spare parts, mechanics and pilots. Benjamin Netanyahu greeted them at the airport.

The quick response by Greece was a sign of the increasingly close relations between two Mediterranean countries that until 18 years ago did not even have diplomatic ties.

Papandreou visited Israel in July, and the following month Netanyahu made the first-ever trip by an Israeli prime minister to Greece. In October, the two countries held joint military exercises. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations recently announced that Greece would be the site of its annual leadership mission in February.

“Greece and Israel have opened a new chapter in their ties,” Mekel said. “Our two governments have taken a mutual decision to develop multifaceted cooperation in the fields of politics, security, the economy and culture.”

The subtext behind the sudden flurry of activity between Greece and Israel is the crisis in relations between Israel and Turkey, Greece’s chief rival. Those ties, already on the skids, took a nosedive after the flotilla incident of May 31, when nine Turkish nationals were killed in a clash with Israeli commandos aboard a ship trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

After the incident, Turkey canceled joint military exercises with the Israelis and withdrew its ambassador to Israel.

With Israeli Air Force pilots no longer able to train in Turkish airspace, and the Turkish market for Israeli military hardware and other exports at risk, Israel turned to Greece.

Conditions appear ripe for a boost to Greek-Israeli relations. For Israel, nearby Greece would seem to be a natural ally in a Mediterranean region dominated by Islamic countries.

For Greece, which is in the midst of a severe financial crisis, friendship with Israel is seen as a great asset, particularly due to Israel’s perceived closeness to the administration in Washington. By the same count, Papandreou hopes Greece’s closeness with Israel will convince Diaspora Jews to invest in Greece and support Greece in international disputes.

This wouldn’t be too different from the approach Israel and American Jewish organizations took vis-a-vis Turkey until recently -- for example, opposing efforts to have the Turkish massacres of Armenians officially labeled as a genocide.

Greece also seeks an expanded role as a mediator in Middle East peacemaking -- a role that until recently was occupied by Turkey.

“Greece could contribute in a positive way,” said the country's foreign minister, Dimitris Droutsas.

By capitalizing on its close ties with the Arab world, Greece could be a source of trustworthiness, confidence and objectivity for both sides, he said.

For the time being, trade and tourism between Greece and Israel are growing. Approximately 250,000 Israeli tourists will have visited Greece in 2010, a 200 percent increase over last year, and bilateral trade stands at approximately $140 million, according to Mekel.

“Clearly there is a lot of room for improvement,” Mekel said. “Last week, a delegation from Israel came to Greece to present proposals to the Greek government for 13 large-scale joint projects in fields like tourism, agriculture, renewable energy sources, water and waste management, space technology and investments.”

The American Jewish organizational world already appears to be on board.

Aside from the Presidents Conference mission, Jewish organizations lined up behind a U.S. congressional resolution on Oct. 1 asking Turkey to respect the cultural heritage and the religious sites of the Greek Cypriots in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. Turkey invaded the Greek-speaking island in 1974 and retains control of its north. Israeli tourism to the Greek-speaking southern part of Cyprus, a Mediterranean island nation, is robust.

It’s all a major turnabout for two countries that until two decades ago didn’t really get along. In the 1980s, Greece was widely considered the most hostile country to Israel in Europe. Andreas Papandreou, the father of Greece’s current leader, was prime minister, and he pursued a policy of cozying up to Arab regimes. Greek officials recognized the PLO in 1981, and it wasn’t until Andreas Papandreou left office that Israel and Greece established formal diplomatic ties, in 1992.

Droutsas says Greece and Israel were never in conflict, but he acknowledges that government-to-government ties lagged far behind “true relations between the two peoples.” He said, “This gap must be closed and we are determined to strengthen and to deepen these relations at a fast pace.”

They’re catching up fast. Just three weeks after Papandreou visited Israel in July -- the first visit since Greek’s then-premier, Constantine Mitsotakis, visited Israel in May 1992 when his country first recognized the Jewish state -- Netanyahu spent a few days in Greece. The two prime ministers, both of whom speak flawless English from time spent living in the United States, appeared to be hitting it off as old friends, even cruising the Greek islands together.

Since then the official visits have been fast and furious. Droutsas, Greek Minister of State Haris Pamboukis and Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos all visited Israel. On the Israeli side, the director of political and military affairs at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad; Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, and minister without portfolio Benny Begin all have gone to Greece.

One area where Israel doesn’t have too many friends here is in the media. Influenced by 40 years of cultivation by pro-Arab and anti-Israel politicians, the Greek media have a mostly unfavorable view of Israel.

But that also has started to change. Mekel, a former journalist who appears frequently on Greek media, says there has been more positive coverage recently of Israel.

The improvement in Greece-Israel ties obviously has been welcomed by this country’s small Jewish community of about 5,000.

“There is no doubt that the improvement of the relations between the two countries makes us feel much more at ease,” said Beny Albala, head of the Athens Jewish community. “We hope that these relations will continue for a long time for the benefit of both countries and our community.”

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/12 ... urkey-fade

[Lit]

Greece in exploratory gas talks with Israel
30/1/2011January, 2011, 01:25 AM Doha Time

Reuters/Athens

Greece has begun exploratory talks with Israel about co-operation on transporting recently discovered offshore Israeli natural gas to markets in Europe, Investment Minister Harris Pamboukis said.

Pamboukis told Reuters he discussed the idea on a visit to Israel recently to build ties between the eastern Mediterranean states following an ice-breaking trip to Athens last year by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The Israelis have found big quantities of offshore gas in the Mediterranean. We are trying to see how Greece could be seen as a transportation hub and a services centre, since it is on a natural road to the Balkans and Europe,” he said in a weekend interview.

Pamboukis stressed he had held only exploratory discussions on transporting gas from the Leviathan field, whose discovery was announced last month, containing an estimated 16tn cubic feet of natural gas.

Israel is already reported to be discussing potential cooperation on liquefied natural gas with Cyprus, a close ally of Greece.

Cyprus has angered Turkey by prospecting for offshore gas in Cypriot territorial waters between the island and Israel.

Pamboukis said he had been appointed Greece’s coordinator for relations with the Jewish state as well as for seeking strategic investments from China, Qatar and France.

full story here:
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/a ... rent_id=28

[Lit]

Israeli-Greek defense pact invoked versus Turkish naval and air movements
Exclusive Report September 15, 2011

Israel and Greece have invoked the mutual defense pact they signed secretly only 12 days ago in the light of heavy Turkish sea and air movements in the eastern Mediterranean. debkafile's sources report that this was decided in a long nocturnal phone conversation Wednesday night Sept. 14 between the Israeli and Greek prime ministers, Binyamin Netanyahu and George Papandreou, and at Israel's expanded cabinet of eight, which was called into session over the Turkish threat to its off-shore oil and gas rigs.

http://www.debka.com/article/21301/

[CBBB]

Israeli-Greek defense pact invoked versus Turkish naval and air movements
Exclusive Report September 15, 2011

Israel and Greece have invoked the mutual defense pact they signed secretly only 12 days ago in the light of heavy Turkish sea and air movements in the eastern Mediterranean. debkafile's sources report that this was decided in a long nocturnal phone conversation Wednesday night Sept. 14 between the Israeli and Greek prime ministers, Binyamin Netanyahu and George Papandreou, and at Israel's expanded cabinet of eight, which was called into session over the Turkish threat to its off-shore oil and gas rigs.

http://www.debka.com/article/21301/

I think you should have posted the whole article, but I will add one more paragraph.

They decided to invoke their mutual defense pact – not before obtaining a green light from Washington – because they believe the Turkish threats indicated by its military movements are real and tangible.

My emphasis.

[Lit]

Israel, moving towards a strategic alliance with Greece and Cyprus?

Strategically, a possible modus operandi behind Athens desire to cultivate strong military relations with Israel is its unresolved maritime border dispute with Turkey. Under international law, every state is entitled to declare its own exclusive economic zone up until 12 nautical miles. However, in 1995 the Turkish Parliament declared that in the event Greece would extend its territorial waters beyond its current six nautical miles, Ankara would regard such as decision as "Casus Belli."

For Netanyahu, Athens seems to have the potential to bring Tel Aviv financial markets closer to Europe and add a certain degree of regional stability, especially following Israel's newfound energy riches. A robust partnership with Greece, in particular following Nicosia's decision to begin its oil and gas drilling as early as September/October 2011 seem to at least partially explain Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias landmark visit to Israel in March this year.

Full article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sigurd-ne ... 84023.html