Israeli sources say relations between Greece and Israel are of strategic importance and any improvement in Israeli-Turkish relations will not come at the expense of Greek-Israeli relations.

According to the same sources cited by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Greek-Israeli relations are strengthening and have strategic depth. The same sources highlighted the “strategic cooperation and friendship” of the two countries.

“We have common interests and mutual benefit” in bilateral relations, they noted, and reported that the more relations develop, the closer they become. They noticed that relations are developing not only between the two governments, but also between the two societies. As they discovered, there are positive feelings on both sides of the peoples.

The close bilateral relations and their depth are evidenced by the number of bilateral visits by officials of the two countries. As for the joint visits of Israeli officials with other countries, Greece is in first place in the world, the same sources say. They added that there are more visits between Greece and Israel than between Israel and the US.

Focusing on the areas of bilateral cooperation, they mentioned the economy, energy, and tourism. Especially for tourism, they noticed that when Israel’s relations with Turkey deteriorated, Israeli tourists discovered Greece, and two years after the deterioration of Israeli-Turkish relations, the number of Israeli tourists choosing Turkey returned to the same level as before the deterioration. , however, without affecting the number of Israeli tourists visiting Greece. In fact, according to their estimates, tourist flows from Israel to Greece will increase every year.

Continuing to develop “strategic depth” between the peoples of Greece and Israel, they emphasized the development of cultural and academic bilateral ties, as well as the importance of information exchange and military cooperation, with a focus on the export of military equipment to Greece. In this context, they stressed the importance of the aviation training center in Kalamata for the development of bilateral strategic relations.

Subsequently, they mentioned Israel’s rapprochement with Turkey, noting that it is an important country in the region. They expressed Israel’s desire to minimize friction and reduce tensions in the region, and described the Israeli Defense Minister’s visit to Ankara as important.

Outlining the landscape of international relations, they noted that the current international system faces many challenges that cause great instability and polarization within societies, such as technological change, the pandemic, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Focusing on the Middle East, they saw an ongoing struggle between “realistic” and radical forces. The same sources explained that, as far as the realistic forces are concerned, they look for realistic solutions to problems and work for the benefit of their people and their well-being, such as in the Israeli-Lebanese agreement, the Abraham Accords, while the radical forces seek victory and feed all forces that cause instability, citing the Ayatollah regime in Iran as an example.

In this light, they described how Israel perceives the concept of regional relations. “We believe in geometry,” they said, explaining that it was about creating all sorts of small alliances and partnerships with groups of regional states that produce joint projects that develop relationships.

They expressed their belief that geometric relationships create a safety net and promote cooperation in the region. They found that the Greek government has the same approach, regional geometry, as, for example, trilateral cooperation between Israel, Cyprus and Greece with the participation of the United States.

Further, unraveling the web of Israel’s security concept, they said that history has led them to believe that if they need to defend Israel, they do it themselves, rather than lobbying or asking others to fight for them, and when they talk about allies, the US, emphasize the element of providing a qualitative military advantage against any military threat.

At this point, they mentioned Iran and “the threat it poses to Israel and the entire region,” as they said. They voiced their opposition to the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), calling it a bad deal and paving the way for Iran to become a nuclear power and acquire a military capability in the future.

They did not fail to refer to the agreement between Israel and Lebanon, calling it important and mutually beneficial, while specifying that this is not a peace agreement. This is an agreement that resolves one of the international border issues between the two hostile states, noting that “the powerful force in Lebanon is Hezbollah, which is a terrorist organization and a confidant of Iran.”

Also regarding tomorrow’s publication of the second report of the UN Human Rights Council on human rights violations during the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, they called it “absurd” and “parody.”

Finally, Israeli sources referred to the upcoming elections, identifying two parameters that will affect the outcome: voter participation, i.e. if participation exceeds 70%, and how many small parties will pass the 3.25% threshold to enter the Israeli parliament. .

^{With information from APE-MPE}