Gideon Sa'ar headed to Greece

Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar will depart for Greece this morning (Thursday) to participate in a trilateral meeting between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, which Israel calls the "Hellenic Alliance."

According to the Foreign Ministry, the trilateral relations between these countries serves as a diplomatic framework built on a regional strategic partnership centered around shared interests, including energy, economy, and national security.

Since its establishment in 2016, the alliance has functioned as a regional focal point, facilitating the expansion of strategic, diplomatic, and security ties beyond the bilateral frameworks between the countries.

The trilateral meeting will precede the upcoming summit of the three countries' prime ministers, which is set to take place in Israel toward the end of this month.

In addition to the trilateral meeting, during his visit, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is expected to hold meetings with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as well as bilateral meetings with the Greek and Cypriot foreign ministers.

During his visit, Minister Sa'ar will also meet with the Jewish community of Athens and Greece.

The alliance with Greece is aimed in part at compensating for the loss of Turkey, once a good friend of Israel's which is now openly hostile to the Jewish State.

Over the past several years, Turkish President Erdogan has taken an increasingly hostile tone towards Israel, a tone which only escalated after October 7. Turkey has banned all trade with Israel, and Turkey also joined with South Africa's "genocide" case against Israel at the Hague. Erdogan has even dropped hints of a possible military reckoning with Israel over Gaza. Thus, analysts believe the threat is a serious one.

The Israel-Alma Center, which regularly provides analyses of threats to Israel from countries to the north - specifically Lebanon and Syria - believes that Turkey could indeed pose such a threat in one of two possible ways: indirect support for Syrian forces as an anti-Israel proxy force, and direct use of long-range missiles and drone arsenals.

The Center argues that Turkey may use Syria as a hostile proxy force in much the same way as Iran uses and equips terrorist proxy armies around the Middle East - Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and others - while trying to officially maintain deniability. According to their analysis, this is vital to prevent the United States directly intervening with their NATO partner.