Greek-Israeli relations have been a key aspect of our country’s foreign policy for more than a decade. If there is a politician who is considered the architect of the Greek-Israeli rapprochement, and now of friendship, then he is none other than Benjamin Netanyahu. It was Netanyahu who looked for alternatives after the deterioration of relations Israel–Turkey in 2008 and subsequently explored the possibility of cooperation with Greece. As Prime Minister of Israel, he has successfully collaborated with various Greek governments: with the PASOK government in the critical years 2010 and 2011, with the New Democracy government with PASOK from 2012 to 2015, with SYRIZA with ANEL from 2015 to 2019, and then with the New democratic government. Democracy from 2019 until last year, when he himself stepped down from power.

Despite the different colors of the Greek governments, the result was the same: constant progress in bilateral relations. If today the Greek-Israeli friendship is taken for granted, then the road in this direction was difficult. Turkey has been a strategic partner of Israel for decades, Greece has worked well with the Arab states, and the existence of prejudice in society and the problem of anti-Semitism in Greece did not allow the above step to be taken. Thus, the foresight of Konstantinos Mitsotakis in the early 1990s bore fruit after a few years, but in the end it paid off.

Netanyahu’s electoral victory is positive news for Greece in that a political leader who believed in the dynamics of bilateral relations in an era of distrust and prejudice is returning to the prime minister’s post. But beyond that, realism is needed. Netanyahu is taking over the reins of Israel at a time when the country has restored diplomatic relations with Turkey, but that does not mean that trust has been restored. It will govern with the aim of cooperating with Turkey – in areas of common interest – rather than excluding it from the Eastern Mediterranean processes at the bilateral and multilateral level.

How Greek-Israeli relations will develop, taking into account new data, will be the subject of discussion between the governments of the two countries. We should by no means expect Israel to side with Greece against Turkey. Knowing the limitations, Greece’s foreign policy towards Israel after Netanyahu’s return should focus on areas where there could be partnerships, such as cybersecurity and military cooperation, for example, using the pilot training center in Kalamata.

It is also possible that, under Netanyahu, the Israeli government will openly disagree with President Biden on some issues, such as the Palestinian issue, Iran’s nuclear program, and the Saudi Arabia issue. This will put Greece in a difficult position, since, on the one hand, its policy coincides with that of the United States, and, on the other hand, it seeks an alliance with Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. Of even greater interest will be the future direction of Israeli-Russian relations as the war in Ukraine continues. Netanyahu’s active role in Ukraine, as the new prime minister maintains excellent relations with President Putin, could deprive Turkey of its privilege of being the only mediator in our region, even if Israel’s motives are almost exclusively related to Iran.

*Georgos N. Tsogopoulos is Lecturer in International Relations at the European University of Nice (CIFE), Senior Fellow at ELIAMEP and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (Israel).