All this toing and froing has been prompted by the vast natural gas finds recently discovered in the Israeli and Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zones, and the need this has created for greater economic and defence collusion between the two Greek states and Israel, especially given Turkey’s traditional aggression towards Greece and Cyprus has now been extended to Israel.
Indeed, one senses that it is Israel that has decided that its dramatic fallout with former ally Turkey amounts to a long-term breach and that Greece and Cyprus have been surprised by Israel’s overtures and are not sure of the implications of this burgeoning relationship.
Anyway, below is an article from UPI that provides some more detail on the deepening economic and strategic relationship between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.
Israel tightens Med defense links over gas
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has pledged to upgrade his country’s defense links with Greece and is reported to have signed a defense cooperation pact with Greek Cypriots to counter Turkish threats against joint exploration of gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean.
Israel’s emerging military ties with Athens and the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia stem in part from the rupture of its strategic alliance with Turkey, Greece's historical foe, that climaxed in May 2010.
But the shifting relationships also reflect the common interest shared by Israel, Cyprus and Greece in exploring and exploiting the vast natural gas reserves that lie deep under the Mediterranean seabed that will transform their economies for decades to come…
Read full article here.
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