He had the opportunity to explore the state of Greek-Israeli relations. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendiaswhich was found yesterday in Jerusalemwhere he was received by the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Republic Yitzhak Dukeand also met with his colleague Eli Cohen. Visit of Mr. Dendias to Israel comes in a phase of dense diplomatic events, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in the country a little earlier, who of course also visited Ramallah in the West Bank. Since yesterday’s visit, the Greek side, as Mr. Dendias himself noted in his statement, confirms the fact that the Israeli government has clearly stood for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and sovereign rights of Greece through the words of Mr. Cohen.

Symbolically important was the meeting between Mr. Dendias and Mr. Netanyahu, which lasted twice as long as planned (one instead of half an hour), in the presence of Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Darmer, a man who is one of the Israeli Prime Minister’s closest and most valuable associates as a person linking Jerusalem to various Washington lobbies. Mr. Darmer actually accepted Mr. Dendias’ invitation to visit Greece. “Greece and Israel have built a strong partnership at a strategic level, based on common interests and concurring views on many issues, as well as a common respect for an international order based on international rules and a shared vision of a neighborhood,” Mr. Dendias after his contacts, who also spoke of “the broadest identification on a number of issues”, referring to energy, economics and defense. Foreign Ministers of Greece and Israel discussed the plan Electrical connection Asia-Europe with a cable that will connect Israel, Cyprus and Greece, but also for him EastMed.

Mr. Dendias also mentioned Turkey’s tactics of violating Greek airspace. Turkey, he said, “systematically violates our territory, airspace, uses hybrid tactics, escalates tensions, including open threats of an invasion or (launch) of a ballistic missile at Athens.”

Kalin vs. Menendez

At the same time, however, from Turkey, and especially from Ibrahim Kalin, a representative and trusted adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there was great dissatisfaction with the actions of Senator Bob Menendez in Congress. “If some senators in Congress, like Menendez, put this question (Sweden-Finland) as a condition, and if in doing so they positively answer the Greek request for the F-35, they will lose their neutrality in NATO. If they make it a condition, there is no way we can accept it. I say this clearly, we have no way to take any steps if there is such a thing. If the F-16 program depends on Sweden and Finland joining NATO, they’d better not put it on their agenda at all. There is no way to retreat, all these issues are individual.