Israel and Greece held Tuesday their first government-to-government meeting in Jerusalem which crowns the special and upgraded relationship that the two countries have developed over the last three years.
The Greek delegation was led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who was accompanied by several ministers including Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
The so-called ‘G2G’ summit consists of meetings between the Prime Ministers and working meetings between the Greek ministers and their Israeli counterparts.
Ten bilateral cooperation agreements in different fields have been signedin diverse areas: energy, science, technology, culture, education, youth exchanges, public safety and fighting crime, maritime transportation and tourism.
During their meeting, Prime Minister Samaras discussed with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu a range of issues, centering around energy and defense.
said he wants closer ties witAlthough Greece, which gets much of its oil from Iran, is said to be in favor of lifting international sanctions, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, meeting with Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Oct. 8, said he wants closer ties as the two leaders discussed a range of issues, centering around energy and defense.
Samaras emphasized the need for strategic cooperation and long term partnership between the two countries. He said that Greece and Cyprus, both members of the European Union, ‘’could provide the stable connection between Israel and Europe.’’
‘’Greece and Cyprus have energy resources and we feel that we can both cooperate with Israel in the development and the transportation of those resources. Greece and Cyprus and Israel can together become a beacon of hope for all nations and for all peoples in our area,’’ he added.
‘’This is a partnership that excludes no one and potentially includes all peoples in our region, aspiring to the same ideals of stability, security, peace and growth,’’ Samaras said.

Netanyahu commended Greece’s premier for his handling of the country’s ongoing debt crisis which, he said, “required courage and strength.”
‘’I think you’ve shown leadership, you’ve shown solidarity, a great deal of courage and wisdom to act, to do the right thing, even though it’s unpopular’’, he said, encouraging Israeli investors and Israeli business people to go and invest in Greece.
The Israeli leader also congratulated Samaras for the government’s efforts to clamp down on neo-Nazism in Greece. During his stay in Jerusalem, Samaras visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum and Memorial and signed in the guestbook with the phrase: “Never again.”
Netanyahu also said that ‘’the greatest threat to peace and security of the region and of our world is Iran’s pursuit of its nuclear weapons program.’’
‘’Iran’s presidents might change, but that country’s nuclear program continues to expand. That is because the real leader of Iran, the real ruler of Iran, the so-called Supreme Leader, is committed to getting nuclear weapons.’’
He added: ‘’The only tangible result from the P5+1 talks, the five countries that have been talking with Iran, is that Iran has managed to buy more time and to advance in this time its program to develop nuclear weapons.’’
‘’In parallel, the Iranian regime continues to plan and conduct terrorism across the globe, including an attempt through its own agencies and its proxies in various countries in Europe: an attempt in Cyprus, a successful murder, unfortunately, in Bulgaria, terrorism across the globe. This is what Iran continues to do today, and in Syria it participates in the mass murder of tens of thousands of men, women and children.’’
In his talks with the Greek Prime Minister, Netanyahu reportedly also mentioned the issue of the controversial EU guidelines banning Israeli entities based beyond the Green Line from receiving grants and funding from the EU.
The guidelines, wich are set to go into effect on January 1, 2014, call, among others, for Israel to sign a “territorial clause” before entering into any new agreements with the EU that would stipulate that the agreement is inapplicable in east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank. Israel has said it would not sign such a clause and the two sides are negotiating over a ‘’flexible’’ implementation of the guidelines to allow Israel participate in the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and development programme.
Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos discussed the issue with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin.
Greece’s support for Israel’s position on the guidelines is particularly important as the country will take over from Lithuania the six-monthly rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1.