{"id":199203,"date":"2025-12-23T04:29:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/199203\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T04:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:29:14","slug":"netanyahu-uses-summit-of-israel-greece-cyprus-leaders-to-send-warning-to-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/199203\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu uses summit of Israel, Greece, Cyprus leaders to send warning to Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leaders of Turkey\u2019s rival countries in the eastern Mediterranean convened in Jerusalem on Monday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using the opportunity to send a message of defiance to one of Jerusalem\u2019s leading critics on the international stage.<\/p>\n

Standing alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Netanyahu said in a thinly veiled reference to Turkey that \u201cthose who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands\u201d should \u201cforget it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ottoman Empire ruled much of the Middle East and parts of Europe for 600 years before collapsing in World War I and turning into the modern Turkish state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that all of our countries were conquered in the past by a succession of empires,\u201d said Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut through courage and sacrifice, we achieved our independence in modern times,\u201d he continued. \u201cTo those who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands, I say: Forget it. It\u2019s not going to happen. Don\u2019t even think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are committed and able to defend ourselves and our cooperation further enhances that capability,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n

Relations between Israel and Turkey \u2014 formerly close allies \u2014 collapsed during the war that began with Hamas\u2019s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the Hamas terror group and accused Israel of committing genocide.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, shake hands during their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, April 20, 2024. (Turkish Presidency via AP)<\/p>\n

Turkey suspended its trade with Israel, said it closed its airspace to Israeli planes and issued arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Erdogan has been angling for inclusion in a US-backed international peacekeeping force for Gaza, but Israel has sought to block the idea.<\/p>\n

Greece\u2019s long-troubled relations with its much larger eastern neighbor remain strained over historical grievances, sea boundaries, energy resources and the airspace over the eastern Mediterranean. The northern part of Cyprus, a majority-Greek island, has been occupied by Turkey since 1974.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThe drilling ship \u2018Yavuz\u2019 scheduled to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, at the port of Dilovasi, outside Istanbul, Turkey, June 20, 2019. (BULENT KILIC\/AFP)<\/p>\n

Turkey has used its control over part of Cyprus to drill for natural gas in Cypriot waters, and has alarmed regional states by pursuing aggressive claims to gas fields across the eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s trilateral summit in Jerusalem, the tenth such gathering between the countries, followed reports<\/a> that Greece, Cyprus and Israel are exploring the creation of a rapid-response military force in the eastern Mediterranean, in light of growing concern in Athens over Turkey\u2019s military posture.<\/p>\n

A joint declaration<\/p>\n

The three leaders signed a joint declaration after their summit, in which they agreed to \u201creinforce our ongoing trilateral cooperation on security, defense and military matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (center) meets with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right) and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Maayan Toaf\/GPO)<\/p>\n

The declaration also underscored \u201cthe importance of maritime security and pledged to deepen collaboration in safeguarding sea lanes and critical infrastructure against emerging threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three leaders expressed support for Trump\u2019s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, and called for the immediate return of the remaining slain Israeli hostage Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, and for the disarmament of Hamas.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tRelatives, friends and supporters of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body is held by Hamas, light Hanukkah candles at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, December 21, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

They also welcomed in the joint statement recent direct dialogue between Israel and Lebanon, another eastern Mediterranean state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Lebanon,\u201d the three leaders wrote, \u201cand the importance of ensuring the monopoly of the use of force under legitimate state institutions, in accordance with the decision of the Lebanese Government, UN Security Council resolutions, and the November 2024 understandings agreed to by Israel and Lebanon through US mediation, which could open the path towards normalization between Lebanon and Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli and Lebanese officials met directly in Lebanon for the second time on Friday, as the two enemy states look to maintain the year-old ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah, amid fears that conflict with the Iran-backed terror group could soon erupt again.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle is stationed along the main road near Lebanon\u2019s southern town of Naqoura, close to the border with Israel, on October 27, 2022. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The three countries in their statements pledged to work together on connecting electric grids and natural gas development \u201cbased on international law, including the law of the sea and the respect of all states to exercise their rights in their respective EEZ\/Continental Shelf,\u201d another reference to Turkey\u2019s gas claims.<\/p>\n

While recalling the inherent and deep historical bonds of the Jewish people to its historical homeland,\u201d the statement included a commitment \u201cto preserving the Status Quo at\u00a0 the Holy Sites of Jerusalem and stress our strong interest in upholding the presence and heritage of the Christian Churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tGreek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, left, light candles for Christian pilgrims during the Holy Fire ceremony, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site where according to tradition Jesus was crucified and buried, in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahmoud Illean)<\/p>\n

Greece, as the backer of the Greek Orthodox church, keeps a close eye on tensions between Christian sects at Jerusalem holy sites, and on Israel\u2019s policies toward clergy and local Christian communities.<\/p>\n

Iran warning<\/p>\n

Ahead of a trip to the US to meet Trump, Netanyahu took the opportunity at the joint press conference to confirm reports that Israel is aware Iran has been conducting \u201cexercises\u201d recently, adding that Tehran\u2019s nuclear activities will be discussed with Trump.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA handout picture made available by the Iranian IRGC office on January 11, 2025, shows Hossein Salami (L), head of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guard\u2019s airforce, touring an underground missile base in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Photo by IRAN\u2019S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS WEBSITE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are following this and doing all the necessary preparations,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to convey this clearly to Iran: Any action against Israel will be met with a very severe response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel reportedly warned<\/a> the Trump administration that Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may be using an ongoing military exercise focusing on missiles as cover to launch an attack on Israel, amid fears that Jerusalem and Tehran are readying for another confrontation.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the trilateral meeting, Netanyahu met separately with Mitsotakis and with Christodoulides, first privately and then in expanded meetings with officials from both sides, the PMO said.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar also held diplomatic meetings with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis and Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos before the meetings chaired by Netanyahu, Sa\u2019ar\u2019s office said, adding that the ministers will also hold a trilateral meeting this evening.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tJonas Chrosis. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Separately on Monday, President Isaac Herzog met with Christodoulides at the President\u2019s Residence, writing on X that they \u201cdiscussed how to deepen our cooperation, including through the trilateral alliance between Israel, Cyprus, and Greece, and the importance of the Israel-Egypt gas export deal\u201d that Netanyahu announced last week.<\/p>\n

Herzog and Mitsotakis visited the house of Greek citizen Jonas Chrosis, a 26-year-old architecture student who was\u00a0murdered by terrorists\u00a0in an attack in Jaffa late last year, along with six other victims. Hamas later claimed responsibility for the murders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIonas\u2019s assassination was a tragic event which reminds us of the necessity to fight terrorism in all its forms,\u201d Mitsotakis said in a statement from Herzog\u2019s office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leaders of Turkey\u2019s rival countries in the eastern Mediterranean convened in Jerusalem on Monday, with Prime Minister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-199203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}