World Tribune — Israel seeks official ties to NATO

TEL AVIV — Israel has requested a formal partnership with NATO.

Officials said the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been negotiating with the Western alliance for a relationship that would include intelligence exchange, military exercises and joint operations. They said NATO has been considering the Israeli proposal.

"Israel seeks a formal partnership relationship with NATO," Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni said on Oct. 22. "Israel's efforts to enhance relations with NATO are part of its broader foreign policy to bolster Israel's multilateral diplomacy."

In an address to the Israel-NATO dialogue, Ms. Livni said Israel requires NATO cooperation for regional security, Middle East Newsline reported. Israel has sought NATO help in securing the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, under Hamas rule since June 2007.

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"Facing the threats and challenges I mentioned earlier, now more than ever before, it is time to upgrade the bilateral relations between Israel and NATO, broaden the scope of cooperation and promote joint activity," Ms. Livni said. "While NATO re-aligns itself, according to functional needs and global requirements, to meet the challenges of our generation, it will find in Israel a willing and reliable partner."

Since 1994, Israel has been part of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue along with such Arab states as Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. In 2006, Israel and NATO launched an enhanced relationship that included an annual strategic dialogue.

"Israel is committed to the NATO Mediterranean dialogue, and is fully aware of its great potential, as a framework for confidence building measures between NATO, members of the dialogue and the moderate Arab world," Ms. Livni said.

Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu urged NATO to make Israel a formal strategic partner by 2010. Addressing the NATO-Israel Symposium at the Interdisciplinary Center on Oct. 23, Netanyahu, a former prime minister, warned of a Middle East filled with Iranian nuclear weapons.

"Having Israel join NATO as a member is an issue that we are all looking into," Netanyahu said. "From our point of view, we want to reserve the independence to act, to protect ourselves because we are often under threat. It's something that can and ought to be discussed. In the meantime I think that it would be wise to take a mid-station. I think we should define a goal of having Israel become a formal strategic partner by 2010."