\n Greece's recent purchase of a large air defence system from Israel has shown how the two countries are intensifying cooperation, even as Athens tries to maintain its traditionally good relations with other Middle Eastern countries.\n<\/p>\n
\n The three?billion?euro ($3.5 billion) contract for the system titled Achilles Shield, negotiated for more than three years, is the result of a rapprochement between Greece and Israel that began in 2010 in the areas of defence, energy, and security.\n<\/p>\n
\n The so?called multilayered defence system is designed to protect against drones, aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the contract as \"one of the most important in the country's history\" when he signed the deal in Tel Aviv on September 1.\n<\/p>\n
\n Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier this month the system was \"the best available, given the resources at our disposal\" and hailed the \"strategic relationship with Israel\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Mitsotakis, who has recently went to Jordan and pledged help to Lebanon and is due to visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia, labelled Greece a bridge between Europe and the Middle East.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Turkey not the target -\n<\/p>\n
\n Both Israel and Greece, though, have strained relations with Turkey.\n<\/p>\n
\n But George Tzogopoulos, an international relations analyst at the Nice-based International Center for European Training, said it was \"not an alliance against Turkey\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Israel is not going to take Greece's side against Turkey,\" Tzogopoulos told AFP, adding that Israel's problems with Turkey \"go beyond the framework of Greek?Turkish relations\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Geopolitical changes in the Middle East \"are creating a new reality that Greek foreign policy cannot ignore\", said Ino Afentouli, an analyst at the Greek think tank Eliamep, in a recent article published in the daily Ta Nea.\n<\/p>\n
\n Last year, the conservative Greek government launched the largest armed forces modernisation programme in decades, worth more than 25 billion euros.\n<\/p>\n
\n Greece also renewed its strategic defence partnership with France in April and is set to buy two Italian frigates.\n<\/p>\n
\n - A difficult balance -\n<\/p>\n
\n The arms deal with Israel has nonetheless provoked criticism, particularly among left-wing political parties.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The government chooses to deepen Greece's defence\/military dependence on the genocidal(according to the ICC and the UN) government of Israel, which violates international law, ignoring the protests of international organisations,\" said the Syriza party.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel's war in Gaza has sparked frequent demonstrations since 2023 against what some Greeks label Israel's genocide.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israeli cruise ships have also been targeted by protests during stopovers in Piraeus or on the Greek islands.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Greece is trying to strike a balance by preserving its traditionally good relations with the Arab states\" in the Middle East, Tzogopoulos said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's difficult.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greece's recent purchase of a large air defence system from Israel has shown how the two countries are intensifying cooperation, even as Athens tries to maintain its traditionally good relations with other Middle Eastern countries. The three?billion?euro ($3.5 billion) contract for the system titled Achilles Shield, negotiated for more than three years, is the result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-164808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n