Explanations of the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the cancellation of the trip to Greece
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner
One day after his visit to Ankara, where Turkey and Israel announced that they are reactivating their defense cooperationBenny Gantz, Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel explained why he canceled his trip to Athens.
The trip was scheduled to take place on October 21, as Benny Gantz was due to attend the first official inspection of the 120th Air Training Wing in Kalamata where the International Pilot Training Center is being set up, sponsored by Israeli defense equipment manufacturer Elbit.
Then, on October 20, it was announced that the trip is cancelled for “reasons that require the minister to be in Israel” and that the Greek-Israeli defense ministers are in close contact and agreed to have a dialogue later. However, on the same day, his trip to Turkey.
Today, October 28, as reported by Manolis Kostidis, at DAILYspeaking to reporters in Turkey, Gantz cited “technical reasons” and “security reasons” for canceling the October 21 trip.
“I had to cancel my visit to Greece for purely technical and security reasons. It certainly has nothing to do with our relations with Greece. I spoke with the Greek defense minister and she fully understood the situation,” he said.
Also, when asked about the possibility of Cyprus acquiring Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ mobile air defense system, the Israeli Defense Minister said: “Nothing has been decided, no decision has been made. If there are more, of course we will announce them.”