Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with his Israeli counterpart this past Sunday in Jerusalem to discuss deepening their bilateral military ties amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, a move which Greece’s opposition labelled ‘extremely provocative’.
The meeting between Mitsotakis and Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, saw the pair deliberate about the situation with a statement from the Greek PM’s office saying the following:
“During their meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the strategic relationship between Greece and Israel and discussed the further deepening of bilateral cooperation, particularly in the field of defense.”
The statement further added that:
“Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged views on regional developments, with emphasis on the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as on the challenges in Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea.”
The Prime Minister underlined the importance of connectivity and energy projects of common interest for the stability of the region.
Regarding Lebanon, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of stability in the country and the maintenance of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.”
During the two PMs’ exchange, Mitsotakis stated “there are many security challenges that we need to address in order to return our common region to a state of peace”.
He added that “we do want to focus also on our economic cooperation, but also on our defence cooperation, which is particularly important to us in Greece.”
Earlier the same day, the Greek PM met with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and with representatives of Israeli defence industries as well as top Defence Ministry officials.
Mitsotakis’ office highlighted that the Greek PM expressed hope both for the swift and unconditional release of the Israeli captives held by Hamas and a new ceasefire in Gaza when he made remarks before the start of the meeting with Herzog.
Herzog, for his part, also underlined the importance he attaches to both the relations with Greece and his friendship with Mitsotakis.
Greece’s left-wing opposition parties strongly condemned Mitsotakis’ visit to Israel with SYRIZA calling it “another extremely provocative move by the Prime Minister”.
“Mr. Mitsotakis, visiting Jerusalem amid the collapse of the ceasefire and the resumption of Israeli attacks, is indifferent to the genocide in Gaza and does not meet with the Palestinian side, in order for Greece to function as a pillar of stability, which we have traditionally guaranteed. On the contrary, the exclusively bilateral nature of his visit is, in essence, an endorsement of Netanyahu’s policy,” the party said in a statement.
President of the New Left party Alexis Haritsis said on Facebook that “shame” is the only word that can characterize the visit.
