While Israeli media have touted the visit as a sign of rapprochement, there are speculations that Israel may be strategically courting Greece in order to replace its strained ties with Turkey.
Deutsche Welle Radio's Athens correspondent, Jannis Papadimitriou said that, before Greece, Israel had "already started warming its ties with other traditional rivals in southeastern Europe - for example, with Bulgaria and Cyprus." Papadimitriou added that, "in the last months after Turkey closed its skies to Israeli military aircraft, everything happened very quickly" between Israel and Greece, which did not recognize Israel's statehood until the early 1990s.
The Israeli air force carried out military exercises in Greece in 2008 and again this year, though May's maneuvers were cut short by Athens directly after Israel's raid of aid flotillas. There is a chance the exercises could begin again this fall, although Papadimitriou remains skeptical, pointing out that many of the 30 Greeks on the aid flotilla to Gaza claim mistreatment by Israeli forces. "For the moment I can't imagine that Greece will open its skies for Israeli military forces unless it gets something really good in return - for example, advanced military technology from Israel," he said.
Greece's tourism sector has already profited by Israel's fallout with Turkey, as Israeli tourists, who once flocked to Turkish resorts now prefer Greek destinations.
For more: Netanyahu's visit to Greece signals strategic rapprochement | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 16.08.2010
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