"In addition, for the first time, the exercise is being observed by a country from NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative the United Arab Emirates." [29]
"The purpose of the exercise [is] to create better interoperability between the Israeli Navy and NATO naval forces. Israel was invited to participate in the exercise as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue." [30]
In the same month the Israeli Defense Ministry acknowledged that "In a move intended to further bolster ties between Israel and NATO, the IDF is
putting search-and-rescue forces on standby so they can be immediately dispatched to participate in NATO global operations."
In addition, it was announced that "Israel might also be willing to send field hospitals to NATO peacekeeping forces stationed around the world" and "The IDF has also decided to dispatch a high-ranking navy officer to Naples in the coming months, where he will participate in NATO's...Operation Active Endeavor." [31]
Toward the end of June a U.S. Congressional committee "unanimously
approved a resolution that calls for enhancing Israel's relationship with NATO."
"The resolution recommends upgrading Israel's affiliation to a 'leading member of NATO's Individual Cooperation Program,' a promotion the bill says
ultimately will lead to Israel's full membership in the alliance." [32]
The Individual Cooperation Program was a provision made available to Mediterranean Dialogue members within the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. On October 16, 2006 NATO and Israel concluded an Individual Cooperation Program agreement.
"Israel and NATO have approved a long-term plan for cooperation in 27 different areas" and "Israel is the first non-European country, and the first in the Middle East to cooperate with NATO and reach a bilateral agreement with the organization." [33]
Indeed, it is the only country (excepting Iceland) outside of Europe that is included in the U.S. European Command's area of responsibility. (As neighboring Egypt is the only African nation not in Africa Command.) The rest of the Middle East, like Egypt, is covered by Central Command. For NATO's purposes Israel - like the South Caucasus states of Armenia and Georgia if not Azerbaijan - is for all intents a European nation.
As the country's minister of foreign affairs Tzipi Livni said at the NATO's Transformation, the Mediterranean Dialogue, and NATO-Israel Relations seminar in Herzliya on October 24, 2006, "The alliance between NATO and Israel is only natural....Israel and NATO share a common strategic vision....[T]hreats, aimed at Israel and the western-valued moderate community, position Israel more then ever before on the Euro-Atlantic side. In many ways, Israel is the front line defending our common way of life." [34]
The two-day conference was organized by the Atlantic Forum of Israel and the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and occurred only two months after the end of Israel's second Lebanon war, which displaced 900,000 Lebanese, a quarter of the nation's population.
Delivering her address at the meeting, Livni acknowledged "it is...no secret that Israel preferred the involvement of the forces of NATO in Lebanon....In meeting these strategic threats, NATO is most essential." She also said "Israel will be glad to cooperate and participate in positive NATO regional and local initiatives, among them: the Mediterranean Dialogue; the like minded global partnership; and the inclusion of Israel in the PFP (Partnership For Peace) NATO program." [35]
NATO was represented by Deputy Secretary General Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, whose keynote address included:
"We have recently agreed [upon] an individual cooperation programme or ICP. This programme is the first of its kind in the Mediterranean Dialogue....Just a few weeks ago, an exchange of letters between NATO and Israel set the stage for an Israeli contribution to Active Endeavour....This will be the first contribution from a Mediterranean Dialogue nation and represents another truly significant step forward for both NATO and Israel.
"The posting of an Israeli Liaison Officer to the NATO Command in Naples is a further indication of the vitality of our cooperation, as was the demonstration of a NATO AWACS plane in Israel. And, last but not least, over the course of this year, Israel has participated in two major NATO/PfP military exercises in Romania and Ukraine." [36]
A retired Israeli intelligence officer told an American news agency that the Individual Cooperation Program with NATO "allows for 2,000 joint activities - thrice the volume open to the countries involved in the Mediterranean Dialogue." [37]
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