As Tensions between Israel and Turkey Grow, Israel and Greece Tighten Their Defense Relations

In search of closer ties:

Papandreou and Netanyahu agree to further explore Greek-Israeli cooperation

The first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to Greece led yesterday to Benjamin Netanyahu and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou announcing the formation of a joint Greek-Israeli committee that will examine ways of strengthening ties between the two countries in a range of areas.
The panel will look at cooperation on economic issues, investments, tourism, the exchange of technical know-how and energy and water resources, the two leaders decided. The agreement comes at the end of a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two countries.
Less than a month ago, Papandreou became the first Greek prime minister to visit Israel since Athens formally recognized it in 1993. Yesterday, he said that Netanyahu’s reciprocal visit was a sign of the strengthening bond between the two countries, which have not always seen eye to eye.
Papandreou said that the talks with Netanyahu would soon be followed by meetings between other government officials and businessmen from the two countries. Diplomatic sources said that closer military cooperation between the two countries should also be expected. Greece and Israel have already cooperated on air force exercises and Netanyahu’s government appears keen to build on this. Israel’s limited air space means that it is reliant on cooperation with other countries for its pilots to get the training they need. The deterioration of its relationship with Turkey means that Israel is now looking at Greece to fulfill this role, sources said.
However, Israeli officials have denied that the Mediterranean country may be looking to play Greece against Turkey in order to jolt Ankara. An official traveling with Netanyahu quoted him as saying both Israel and Greece want to improve ties with Turkey. “Certainly this [visit] doesn’t harm that, it can only help,” he told Reuters.

Papandreou, meanwhile, again offered to help get the Middle East peace process moving again. “It is necessary that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians begin immediately,” he said. “This is the most useful way to achieve a viable peace. We will contribute in any way we can.”

Realism and foreign policy:

Greece has a lot to gain from pursuing closer ties with the state of Israel. The regional balance is shifting and, as a result of this changing international environment, Athens must forge new alliances and strategic relationships. It must do so, of course, without turning its back on its longstanding allies in the Arab world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two-day visit to Athens makes him the highest-ranking Israeli to visit a country traditionally closer to the Arab world than to the Jewish state.

Recent efforts by the administration of Premier George Papandreou to strengthen diplomatic ties with Israel have raised eyebrows among critics of the Jewish state. It is these same people, however, who insist on viewing foreign policy matters through a prism of ethics.

Agreement on defense matters:

Greek and Israeli leaders agree to resume air force exercise and seek further military cooperation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rounded off his trip to Greece yesterday with a visit to the Saronic Gulf island of Poros, where he held further talks with Greek officials aimed at seeking cooperation between the two countries, particularly on defense issues.
Prime Minister George Papandreou accompanied Netanyahu to Poros. The pair sat down for talks there with Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Deputy Defense Minister Panos Beglitis and Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas.
One of the key items on the agenda was the strengthening of cooperation between Greece and Israel on military issues. It was agreed that the joint air force exercise, Minoas, which was canceled when Israeli commandos boarded ships carrying aid to Gaza in June, should be completed this October. The two sides also agreed that a visit to Greece by the Israeli air force chief, also postponed for the same reason, should now go ahead.
Israel has limited air space and is keen to reach agreements with other countries to carry out joint exercises. For many years, Turkey had obliged but relations between Ankara and Jerusalem have deteriorated this year.
It was also agreed yesterday that Venizelos should soon visit Israel so the two countries can discuss other areas of military cooperation.
Greek diplomatic sources denied suggestions that Athens was seeking to capitalize on the current thorny relations between Israel and Turkey, insisting that there is a long-term strategy to fostering closer ties with Jerusalem. They also stressed that they do not see a warmer relationship with Israel as signifying a cooling of ties with Turkey, which have also been rekindled recently, or with the Arab countries with which Greece has traditionally had close ties.
The same sources also underlined that Greece is not looking to punch above its weight in the region and is well aware of the limited role that it can play in something like the Middle East peace process, even though Papandreou has offered to help bridge the divide between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Netanyahu also met with New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, who described the conversation between the two men as “very useful.” The Communist Party accused the government of “absolving the Israeli leadership of guilt in the face of the Palestinian people.” The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) said that Greece’s policy was in line with the “general schemes” of the USA and aided “an isolated Israel.”

 
 
 The risk of ‘high’ politics
 
Some observers were not happy to see Benjamin Netanyahu in Athens, while others were surprised by the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the Greek capital. They shouldn’t have been: Anyone familiar with the way in which the government of George Papandreou operates should know that from the moment Ankara broke ranks with Israel and distanced itself from Washington’s policy in the Middle East, Athens would only think of rushing to fill the vacuum.
Ever since the state of Israel declared its independence in 1948, Athens’s relationship with the Jewish state has been rather ambiguous. Athens offered Israel de facto recognition in a bid to rescue the Greek community in Egypt – until the Greeks there were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser. It later stuck with the same policy so as not to lose the backing of Arab states on the Cyprus issue.
De jure recognition came with the conservative administration of Constantine Mitsotakis in 1990 without prompting any retaliation from Arab states. In 1995, Israel came up with a proposal for military cooperation. The PASOK government hesitated and Tel Aviv went on to sign a similar deal with Ankara, a move which caused a nervous reaction among Athens officials. Now Papandreou wants to enter the big regional game, which is shaped by the confrontation between the US and Israel on the one hand and Turkey on the other. Papandreou thinks that Greece has something to gain in this local antagonism but this is highly unlikely.
First of all, strengthening Greece’s ties with Israel will not have any impact on the Middle East balance of power. The alliance with Turkey gave Israel the necessary strategic depth to face its chief regional foe, Iran. Greece does not carry similar weight.
But this lack of weight could turn to an advantage, as Ankara has no reason to take Papandreou’s diplomatic initiative too seriously. Ever since 1922, Greece has not posed a threat for Turkey, having degenerated into a minor annoyance.

Officials in Athens should keep in mind that Turkey continues to be their top foreign policy challenge. And it does not make sense to irritate Turkey by engaging in “high” politics.

Read the original story at Israel’s Financial Expert