On October 16, 2006, Israel agreed to provide support for NATO counter-terrorism patrols in the Mediterranean when it signed a cooperation pact with NATO. Israel was the first of seven Middle Eastern countries to accept the 2004 offer to join NATO and to agree to all the terms of cooperation.
Since the end of the Cold
War, NATO has sought to bolster its presence
in the Middle East. In 2004, in an effort
to accomplish this goal, NATO offered Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia help in reforming their armies
so they would be more able to cooperate with
the militaries of alliance nations. NATO
also encouraged these countries to provide
ships, intelligence and port access for the
counter-terrorism patrols that NATO launched
after September 11.
While Algeria and Morocco
have expressed an interest in supporting
NATO, the other Arab countries asked to cooperate
have not been as supportive. Many in the
Arab world view NATO as a United States dominated
organization interested in interfering
with the affairs of other countries. Despite
such feelings, for the first time NATO
held a meeting for its seven Mediterranean
partners in an Arab country, Morocco. In
addition, the alliance is planning to provide
office training for the seven countries
as well as for four Gulf states. Diplomats
have also suggested that Jordan is interested
in hosting a NATO-run academy, however
no final decisions have yet been made.