Greece is negotiating with Israel to develop a 2 billion euro ($2.11 billion) anti-aircraft and missile defense similar to Israel’s highly successful Iron Dome, according to Israeli and Greek officials.
The talks, which were first reported by Reuters last week, come as multiple countries around the world have voiced interest in purchasing the Israeli missile defense system, which has won international accolades for its performance during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Greece currently uses U.S. Patriot and old Russian S-300 systems to defend its airspace.
The emerging defense deal with Israel is part of an ambitious 10-year Greek plan to modernize its military capabilities amid intermittent tensions with arch-rival Turkey, whose volatile leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened Greece.
Israel and Greece maintain strong bilateral ties, and the Hellenic Republic has become a hugely popular tourist destination for Israelis who, over the last year, have virtually shunned neighboring Turkey over its leader’s growing and open support for Hamas and calls for boycotts on Israel.
A separate major energy deal that would connect the power grids of Israel, Greece and Cyprus and include a possible future regional natural gas pipeline linking the eastern Mediterranean allies is expected to be sealed next year.
The expected agreement comes amid burgeoning Israeli relations with both Cyprus and Greece, which have maintained support for Israel throughout the war, and close ties in a variety of fields including energy, defense, tourism, high-tech and cybersecurity.
The long-awaited accord, which was stalled by the nearly 13-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza, will not include Turkey.
(JNS)