Israel to station military jets in Paphos?

ISRAEL IS reportedly sounding out the government over a request to station military jets at the Andreas Papandreou airbase in Paphos. 

If the reports prove accurate, the first-time visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Cyprus next week may coincide with a ground-breaking shake up of geostrategic dynamics in the region. 

A number of online news sites yesterday highlighted a report by Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency which quoted unnamed Israeli officials saying that Netanyahu will discuss the request for an Israeli military station in Cyprus during his visit. 

It was not clear from the reports whether the request will involve a permanent presence on the island or establishing a base that can provide logistical support to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) during operations in the region. 

According to Xinhua, an Israeli official said the prospect “is at the exploratory stage – it’s not clear if it will or won’t happen”.  

The official said an offshore airbase was “an existing option” which the Israelis were investigating, noting however that an agreement wasn’t “totally sewn up”. 

A number of media outlets have reported that Israel and Cyprus are seeking to strengthen defence ties as part of efforts to protect offshore oil and gas interests. During Defence Minister Demetris Eliades’ recent visit to Israel, he signed two defence agreements with his counterpart, Ehud Barak. 

While Cyprus is reportedly keen to monitor the air space above its gas fields and increase navy patrols in its exclusive economic zone, Israel will be looking to find ways to counter potential threats from Syria and Hezbollah against its offshore infrastructure, according to Beirut-based correspondent Nicholas Blanford in Executive-Magazine.com. 

At the same time, Israel remains open to thawing its frosty relations with former military ally Turkey. Famagusta Gazette yesterday quoted an unnamed senior IAF official saying that Israel would likely invite Turkey to participate in a large-scale international aerial drill to be hosted in Israel in 2013.  

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.