Cyprus, Greece and Israel Quietly Strengthen Their Mediterranean Alliance

 

Attracting little publicity, Cyprus, Greece and Israel have deepened their military cooperation, signing a trilateral agreement in Cyprus last week that builds on a multiyear partnership between the three nations.

Last week’s agreement, signed at technical level by military staff, covers joint air and naval exercises, training and intelligence cooperation. Greece is expected to take part once again in the Israeli-led naval Exercise Noble Dina in the Mediterranean in the spring.

Exercise Noble Dina is an annual Israeli-led multinational exercise which normally takes place off the coasts of Greece and/or Cyprus. The exercise last year, from March 19 to April 3, practiced tactical maneuvering, commercial vessel escort duties, anti-submarine warfare, air-sea cooperation exercises and search and rescue operations.

The technical agreement comes shortly after a broader agreement signed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at a meeting in Jerusalem on December 22. This agreement covered further Greek purchases of multi-layer air defense for its Achilles Shield program and artillery systems to strengthen the defenses of Greek islands close to the Turkish coast, as well as maritime security cooperation and energy interconnector projects covering both gas and electricity.

Greek-Israeli military cooperation has been a key factor in Israeli preparedness to counter the threat from Iran.  When in 2020 Israel set up its Iran Command, known initially as the Third Circle Directorate, to plan operations against Iran, new long-range attack techniques needed to be developed. Greece provided the strategic depth for training to be conducted both discreetly and at long range. In June 2022, for example, Israeli aircraft flew to Gibraltar and back, refuelling in Greek airspace, before attacking notional enemy targets in Cyprus.

A key ingredient of the cooperation, hinted at in last week’s announcement, will be intelligence cooperation. Cyprus has long been a key location from which to keep an eye on the Levant and adjacent sea areas. Cyprus is in the process of enhancing the facilities of its Mari naval base between Limassol and Larnaca.

Military cooperation provides defense in depth for all three partners in the arrangement.  It also adds to deterrence as far as the relationship with Turkey is concerned. Greece and Cyprus have long-running issues with Turkey, with Turkish forces still stationed in Northern Cyprus. But Turkey, once cooperative with Israel, has become increasingly hostile as the war in Gaza has progressed.  Deterrence of this nature inevitably draws a response, which may explain why Turkey has resumed its quest to acquire F-35s – not a NATO-inspired move to deal with the threat from Russia, with whom its gets along quite amiably, but to balance those in Israeli hands and which Greece will take delivery of in 2028.