A new Greece was being born out of the pain of the economic austerity imposed by the European Union and its institutions — a troika so ruthless it cared little while the Greek economy collapsed and millions of people experienced the bitterness of poverty, unemployment and despair. The small danger to the air force was demonstrated in hundreds of previous operations in which its planes returned to base without any damage, and certainly contributed to a certain feeling of invincibility. One can assume this is a similar signal. Every incident that involves foreign forces on the ground in Syria or in its skies has broader implications in the wider circle around it – and sometimes even on the superpowers. It was not exactly wishful thinking, either. Your email address will not be published. For a few moments, after the official reconciliation imposed by former U.S. President Barack Obama on the two countries in the wake of the Marmara affair, it might have seemed that a renewed warming of ties between Ankara and Jerusalem was possible. It was actually the rather unhelpful phrasing used by a senior air force officer, who spoke about “Syrian chutzpah” in firing the anti-aircraft missiles (which was in fact defensive fire at planes that attacked Syria), exposed a bit of the Israeli attitude: The skies are ours, the threat is minimal and woe to those who try to harm us. © 2020 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement. Greece’s Dangerous Alliance With Israel – OpEd. Who could forget Andreas Papandreou, the late Greek leader who gave the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) diplomatic status in 1981 and stood by Palestinians despite American and Israeli threats? By Ramzy Baroud. Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view. If Israel continues with its plans to extract gas from an energy source located off the coast of Lebanon, it will increase the chances of yet another regional war. For a brief moment, Alexis Tsipras and his political party, Syriza, ignited hope that Greece could resurrect a long-dormant leftist tide in Europe. Fox showed satellite photos of what it called a new Iranian military base being built near Damascus. However, signing off to join an Israel-led economic and military alliance in an area replete with conflict is a terribly irresponsible move, even for politically inexperienced and opportunistic politicians. Israel-Greece relations. But it is actually the success of the Assad regime and its supporters that is now creating other problems because of the growing involvement of other countries, including Israel, in what is happening in Syria. “The Congressional Hellenic-Israel Alliance will highlight the strong relationship and growing cooperation between Israel, Greece and Cyprus,” said Deutch. Sign up here to get our free newsletter delivered directly to your inbox. A new Greece was being born out of the pain of the economic austerity imposed by the European Union and its institutions — a troika so ruthless it cared little while the Greek economy collapsed and millions of people experienced the bitterness of poverty, unemployment and despair. Photo by Robert Crc, Wikipedia Commons. All of this was reinforced by a propaganda campaign in Israel hailing the new alliance, coupled with a changing narrative in Greek media regarding Israel and Palestine. Egypt is the best example of this. Find the best fares on Greece to Israel flights with Star Alliance® - SKYTRAX World's Best Airline Alliance 2017. This was followed by an official visit to Greece by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the first of its kind. While Israel sees an opportunity to advance its political agenda in Greece’s economic woes, the Greek government is playing along without fully assessing the potential repercussions of engaging with a country that is regionally viewed as a pariah, while internationally becoming condemned for its military occupation and terrible human rights record. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Now Egypt has no less than 88 battalions and 42,000 soldiers in the Sinai – numbers that highlight the exceptional high level of trust between the leaders of Egypt and Israel. The result, however, was quite disappointing. Learn how your comment data is processed. “This process (of converting Greeks to favoring Israel) will take time, of course, because it is principally related to school education,” he wrote in the US-based Algemeiner Journal. Tsipras, now a Prime Minister, transformed his political discourse and gradually adopted one that is more consistent with the very neoliberal policies that pushed his country to its knees in the first place. Just as Israel and Greece have clashed with Turkey in recent years, U.S.-Turkish relations have been at odds. The war between the wars is the term for what the IDF is conducting mostly against the arming of Hezbollah. Get Eurasia Review’s insightful news, analysis and opinion delivered directly to your email. Given these improving ties, the military aspect provides an important, complementary component for to the joint strategic interests. In exchange for bailout loans that Greece received from European banks between 2010 and 2015 (estimated at more than $240 billion), the country is being dismembered. His book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com, Your email address will not be published. Ramzy Baroud. (res.) Did you enjoy this article? For Greece to be the “strong arm of imperialism in the region” — as described by Savas Michael-Matsas, the leader of the socialist Workers’ Revolutionary Party in Greece — is “completely stupid” as it will, in the long run, bring “catastrophic results for (the) Greek people.” Tsipras, however, seems incapable of looking that far ahead. But these hopes were quickly proven wrong and Israel continued to look to the west, to Greece and Cyprus, as its closest partners in the region. The report on Fox News on Wednesday was certainly taken as a warning in Iran and Syria. This is the potential Netanyahu sees, his regional vision: On one side the Greek alliance and on the other the strengthening of ties with the neighboring Sunni nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Syriza was openly critical of Israel and had “vowed to cut military ties with Israel upon coming to office,” Patrick Strickland, reporting from Athens. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Greece's Alexis Tsipras. Greece’s regional airports are now operated by German companies and the country’s main telecommunications firm has been privatized, with 40 percent of it owned by Deutsche Telekom. IDF commandos trained in Cyprus while air force planes train very frequently in the skies over Greece and Cyprus. Make sure to check your email to confirm your subscription. February 6, 2018 Ramzy Baroud 0 Comments. “But the change in coverage of Israel by Greek journalists is a good omen.”. This romance gradually faded with the political rise of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has an infinitely greater ideological identification with the Palestinians, and in particular with Hamas. 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In any case, it seems the path to a collision between Iran and Israel over the Iranian entrenchment in Syria remains as it was and the two sides are preparing for the possibility of another round. In both cases Netanyahu is counting on the world’s declining interest in the Palestinian problem. As the former head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. This is the potential Netanyahu sees, his regional vision: On one side the Greek alliance and on the other the strengthening of ties with the neighboring Sunni nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. At the same time that its Sunni partners are facing declared enemies – Iran on one side and the Sunni jihadist groups ISIS and Al-Qaida on the other – rival Turkey is not mentioned explicitly in the relations with Greece and Cyprus. For a brief moment, Alexis Tsipras and his political party, Syriza, ignited hope that Greece could resurrect a long-dormant leftist tide in Europe. This week the air force completed its internal investigation into the downing of the Israeli F-16 by a Syrian anti-aircraft battery. Required fields are marked *. Then please consider donating today to ensure that Eurasia Review can continue to be able to provide similar content. All three states are firm democracies that promote peace, security, and environmental stability in the region. In its military ties with Greece and Cyprus, Israel now enjoys the possibility of training under conditions it is unable to find close to home (mountain ranges for commando forces, long flights and dealing with Russian-manufactured antiaircraft systems for the air force). Austerity-hit nation sold out by Syriza and its leader Tsipras, who has forged an unwise regional alliance aimed at exploiting gas finds in the Mediterranean and participating in multiple Israeli-led military drills. All (81) Greece (44) Israel-Cyprus relations (25) Alexis Tsipras (23) Benjamin Netanyahu (23) September 27, 2020, 3:21 pm. Greece was not always this way, of course. But over the last year something has changed: In a number of attacks relatively heavy anti-aircraft fire was directed at the planes. But the Greeks’ worries about Turkish aggression and Erdogan’s aspirations for regional superiority are always roosting in the background, alongside the possible directions for cooperation with Israel on natural gas. These meetings followed a major improvement in military ties between Israel and Greece and Cyprus. 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