Has Greece become Israel's Trojan Horse in the Gulf?

What Happened

Over the past decade, Greece has pursued a two-phase strategic push into the Gulf, aligning tightly with Israel to counter Turkey’s regional influence, according to a Middle East Eye analysis. From 2016 to 2021, Athens built an anti-Turkey coalition around a Greece-Israel-Cyprus axis, drawing in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others. Key milestones included a November 2020 Greek-UAE strategic partnership with a mutual defence clause, and a 2021 Greek-Saudi defence agreement that deployed a Greek Patriot battery to the kingdom and launched joint air exercises. After the 2017 Gulf crisis resolved and Gulf states normalised ties with Turkey, that coalition collapsed. A second phase from 2023 onward has seen Greece merge its security policy with Israel to an unprecedented degree: a $3.5bn ‘Achilles’ Shield’ air-defence programme integrating three Israeli systems, a $750m Elbit Systems precision rocket artillery purchase, joint training, Israeli firms training Greek pilots, and Israel Aerospace Industries’ 2023 acquisition of Greek defence firm Intracom Defense. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has positioned Greece, Cyprus, and India as a counterweight to an emerging alignment of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

Greece’s embrace of Israeli defence systems and operational integration makes it a conduit for Israeli influence in the Gulf at a time when Israel itself faces growing diplomatic isolation and ICC arrest warrants for its top officials. The emerging binary—a Greek-Israeli-Indian camp versus a Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani-Egyptian one—reshapes regional security alignments and could intensify the Eastern Mediterranean and Gulf rivalries, drawing Gulf states into a broader contest between Ankara and Athens by proxy.

Watch For

Further Greek-Israeli defence contracts beyond the Achilles’ Shield programme; reactions from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar to Greece’s deepening role as an Israeli partner; concrete steps toward Turkey’s proposed regional security architecture, and whether a US-mediated Greek-Turkish détente impacts Gulf dynamics.