Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem to discuss tourism and cooperation in various areas, as well as the Turkish threat.
“Turkey is undermining stability in the region. It aims to control politically and militarily the entire area of the eastern Mediterranean,” Mitsotakis told Ynet in an interview. “Turkey is welcome to give up its imperial pipe-dreams and become part of our area of cooperation. But only as an equal, lawful partner, not as the neighborhood bully,” he added.
Netanyahu, Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met in Athens at the end of December in Athens for a seventh trilateral meeting, at which an agreement was signed for the $7 billion, 1,180-mile EastMed gas pipeline that will run from Israel through Cyprus and Greece to Europe.
Turkey, with decades of tensions with Greece and Cyprus, and more recently with Israel, has strongly opposed the pipeline. It also signed an agreement with Libya’s Tripoli-based government setting maritime boundaries that conflict with those envisioned by Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Egypt.
Mitsotakis also expressed his hope that Israeli tourism to Greece, which was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume soon, according to the report. Nearly one million Israelis visit Greece each year.
Following the meeting on Tuesday, agreements regarding cyber, agriculture and tourism will be signed and a joint government-to-government meeting will be held with the prime ministers over lunch.
“The cooperation between our countries is reaching unprecedented heights. There is a huge potential for concerted action in all sectors such as investments, defense, technology, innovation and tourism, and also health,” said Mitsotakis.
