Why the Israel–Greece–Cyprus Summit Matters More Than It Appears: Iran, Turkey and Gaza on the menu

By Elijah J. Magnier – 

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister of Greece, and Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, for a trilateral summit between Israel, Greece and Cyprus. The meeting comes at a moment when Israel is recalibrating its regional posture ahead of a possible wider confrontation with Iran, amid escalating missile threats, shifting power balances in Syria, and renewed diplomatic pressure over Gaza.

For Israel, the summit offers several immediate strategic benefits. It reinforces diplomatic cover through two EU member states, extends Israel’s security and intelligence depth westward into the eastern Mediterranean, strengthens coordination on missile detection and early warning in case of war against Iran, and consolidates a regional alignment that complicates adversaries’ operational planning. 

The timing is also significant because the Jerusalem summit precedes a planned visit by Netanyahu to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, a meeting Israeli officials say followed a specific request from the prime minister. Iran is expected to top the agenda, but it will not be the only issue. Turkey has emerged as Israel’s second most serious strategic challenge after Iran, particularly as Turkey expands its influence in post-war Syria. Israeli officials increasingly view Ankara’s role there as an obstacle to Netanyahu’s efforts to impose and enforce Israeli security terms on Syria’s future order.