Greece recognized the State
of Israel in the late 1940's, but
was diplomatically represented in Tel
Aviv on a lower-than-embassy level for many years.
Interaction between Israel and Greece was minimal for almost 45 years, but has flourished since the 1990's.
Changes began to occur in 1995 due to several factors. One was
Greece's desire to increase its deterrent power vis-a-vis Turkey. Another
element was the death of the pro-PLO Greek Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou, in June 1996. The improvement in
U.S.-Greece relations also encouraged a shift toward Israel, as did
the progress in the Middle East Peace negotiations.
The improvement in relations was reflected in the
increase in trade, which doubled between 1989 and 1995. That year Israel
exported $200 million worth of chemicals and oil products to Greece and imported $150 million worth of cement, food, and building materials.
Israel is, in fact, the Middle East’s second largest importer for
Greek products.
A Greek-Israeli cooperation agreement on military
affairs was concluded as early as December 1994 (predating the Turkish-Israeli
agreement of February 1996); however, both sides refrained from activating
the agreement. Greece was apparently
concerned about alienating the Arab world while Israel did not wish
to upset the Turks. Greece and Israel agreed to hold joint naval maneuvers
at the end of the summer 1997, but they were indefinitely postponed
by the Greeks. The reason given for the postponement was that the Greek
navy was busy preventing infiltrations from Albania,
and it could not spare a frigate for the exercises.
In August 2010, PM Netanyahu became the first Israeli
Prime Minister to visit Greece. On his two-day tour, PM Netanyahu discussed
with Greek PM George Papandreou the possibility of expanding strategic
ties and establishing greater cooperation between the nations' militaries
and related industries. Israel was keen to expand ties with Greece since
its relations with Turkey soured following the Gaza
flotilla incident in May 2010.
In January 2012, that expansion of ties became more
official when the Greek and Israeli defense ministers announced the
signing of a defense cooperation agreement. The pact was cemented during
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud
Barak's trip to Greece, the
fourth such trip by a high-ranking Israeli government official since
the summer of 2010. "We are committed to work together to deepen
our relations in defence and security," said Barak. "We have
to be prepared for many kinds of developments. ... We must think ahead
of time and work together."
In March 2012, the Greek-Israel cooperation took a
another step forward when Israeli Energy & Water Minister, Uzi
Landau, signed a agreement with Greek Environment, Energy and Climate
Minister George Papaconstantinou for cooperation between their two countries
in the field of environmental protection. The agreement calls for exchanging
knowledge and sharing expertise, with particular emphasis on issues
of water management, sewage treatment and reuse, desalination, bio-gas
and biomass production, energy efficiency and other elements. Landau also signed a memorandum of understanding with his Greek counterpart
for the construction of an electric cable from Israel to Cyprus to Greece,
which will allow for redundancy, reciprocal backup, security and long-term
domestic energy for all the parties involved.
In July 2012, Greece and Israel conducted a joint naval
exercise, and in November 2012, the Israeli
Air Force cooperated with Greece's air force for a joint exercise
in Greek air space to simulate a rescue operation. These recent joint
exercises continue to highlight the dramatic increase in cooperation
between the two countries.
In October 2013, Israeli Education Minister Shai Piron and his Greek counterpart, Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos, signed a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation in the field of maritime education in both countries. The fields of cooperation will include domains such as marine geology, biology, ecology, chemistry, mechanics, technology and aquaculture. As part of the memorandum, the ministers also agreed to advance student exchanges between the two countries, organize meetings between pupils from both countries, promote cooperation between higher education institutions and establish a joint committee to oversee and advance the cooperation.
Also in October 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greece Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met for the first ever G2G (Government-to-Government) meeting to be held in Jerusalem. During the meeting, the two national leaders signed ten separate cooperation agreements in fields like energy, science, technology, culture and education - as noted above. “This is a partnership that excludes no one and potentially includes all peoples in our region, aspiring to the same ideals of stability, security, peace and growth,” Samaras said.
The Israeli Navy held joint drills with the U.S. and Greek Navies in May 2015. The training operation, named Noble Dina, began on April 27 and saw Israeli, Greek, and U.S. Navy commandos complete sea-air-land maneuvers and use various Navy vehicles. Three Israeli missile ships took part in the drills, along with dolphin submarines, Israeli Navy helicopters, Greek submarines, and the Hellenic Air Force.
The Israeli Air Force completed a comprehensive training exercise in Greece's mountainous terrain during late July 2015, separate from Noble Dina. The purpose of this training exercise was to expose the Israeli pilots to flying in different situations, because Israel is a relatively flat country with little topographical variety. Israeli pilots practiced ejecting safely, rescuing ejected comrades, and airlifting ground units. Most of the training took place on, and in the vicinity of, Mount Olympus. Following the exercise, IAF commanders confidently stated the training “significantly strengthened our operational abilities.”
In a first-of-it's-kind tripartite summit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held meetings together in the Cypriot capital on January 28, 2015. Leaders from the three countries pledged to work together to encourage stability and cooperation in the region, and signed water-sharing agreements. Israeli PM Netanyahu announced plans to form a trilateral committee including representatives from Greece and Cyprus, to explore the prospect of building a pipeline between the three countries to export oil and gas to Europe.