Jerusalem: – The Greek government has approved the defence cooperation agreement, worth $1.68 billion, with Israel. The Israel defence department gave this information. Israel Defence Minister Beni Gantz said that this agreement is a part of the long-term security partnership between Israel and Greece and is important from the point of view of stability in the Mediterranean Sea sector. Only two months ago, Israel signed military cooperation agreements with Greece and Cyprus.
Under the agreement, approved by Greece, the Elbit Systems and the Israel defence department will be building a training centre for the Greek air force. It is said that this training centre will be a replica of the Flight Academy of the Israeli air force. The training centre will include 10 M-346 advanced Trainer Jets, which will have Israeli systems deployed on them. Moreover, the T-6 Trainer Jets’ responsibility for maintenance, supplied by the US company Raytheon, also has been assigned to Israel.
Israel has been assigned the contract for all the logistic support, along with training the Greek pilots. This agreement between Israel and Greece will be valid for 20 years. Besides, the Israeli defence department said that this is the biggest defence agreement between both countries. Brigadier General Yair Kulas, of the international Defence Cooperation Directorate, said that the Greek government’s approval is historic. The increasing defence cooperation between Israel and Greece has the background of the increasing Turkish activities. Since the last year, Turkey has initiated aggressive movements in the Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea regions. Last year, Turkey claimed rights over islands in the Greek marine region and sent ships and warships for oil exploration. The tension in the Mediterranean sector has festered after that and Greece has started taking assistance of other countries to stop Turkey. These include Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with the United States and European countries.
Last year, Israel, Cyprus and Greece signed an agreement regarding the ambitious Eastmed Pipeline oil project. This project is said to be an Israeli move to keep Turkey under check. Greece has signed important oil and defence sector agreements with Egypt and UAE; it is believed that Turkey has been properly cornered due to these agreements.
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