On Friday, the defense ministers of Israel and Greece emphasized the significance of preserving strong partnerships to counter threats on a global and regional scale, noting difficulties like the conflict in Ukraine and the continued tension in the eastern Mediterranean.
Benny Gantz, the Israeli defense minister, told his Greek counterpart Nikolas Panagiotopoulos at their meeting in Athens that “the world is changing.”
“The effects of the conflict in Ukraine transcend national boundaries. The politics of terrorism and extremism affect nations all around the world.
His argument that the purported aggression of the Islamic Republic “continues to be a significant threat to the region and the globe” was supported by the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and the use of Iranian drones by Russian forces in Ukraine.
According to Gantz, “it is obvious that the worldwide concerns we are currently facing are merely the germs of the problems that will sprout and spread in the future, affecting national security, food supplies, immigration, and energy resources.”
The Turkish capital, Ankara, was visited by Gantz last month, the first senior Israeli defense official to do so in more than a decade, indicating a potential restoration of defense relations with Turkey.
Previously solid regional allies, Israel and Turkey’s ties soured under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal opponent of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Greece has always maintained cordial ties with Turkey’s neighbor, Israel, and the Arab states of the Middle East and has been working to fortify its alliances as tensions with Turkey have grown.
Gantz stated in Athens that it was Greece’s and Israel’s shared responsibility to ensure that its alliances “remain strong and steady in the face of global developments,” adding that it was in both countries’ best interests for the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East’s to be stable.
Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have been at odds for many years over a variety of issues, but recently, especially over sea limits in the eastern Mediterranean, things have gotten much worse.
Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials have made oblique invasion threats.
The greatest threat to the rules-based international order in our region is aggressive revisionism, according to Panagiotopoulos, the Greek defense minister, who specifically cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Panagiotopoulos and Gantz reaffirmed “our mutual objective and willingness to strengthen (the) strategic defense collaboration between Greece and Israel” during their meeting on Friday, according to Panagiotopoulos.
The two nations regularly engage in military training and exercises together, and Greece just began operations at a brand-new international pilot training facility established in collaboration with Israel.
Panagiotopoulos stated, “We are determined to preserve this ever-increasing pace and to enrich our defense industrial collaboration.
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