Archive for November 24th, 2009
Last week the Nato chief, Di Paola, visited here to enlist Israel in the Mediteranean mission. During his meeting on Wednesday, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi and Di Paoloa discussed ways to upgrade Israeli-NATO military ties as well as the plan to include an Israeli Navy vessel in Active Endeavour, a NATO mission established after the 9/11 attacks under which NATO vessels patrol the Mediterranean to prevent illegal terror trafficking.It was decided that our Navy will dispatch a missile ship in the coming months to participate in a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea and prevent weapon smuggling, Di Paola arrived Wednesday in Israel for a three-day visit as a guest of Ashkenazi. This is Di Paola’s third visit to Israel in the past four years both in his current position as well as in his last post as top military commander of Italy. The timing of Di Paoloa’s visit was considered significant since it came at a time that the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) is under increasing criticism in wake of the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead as well as a decision by Turkey - a NATO member - to ban Israel from joint aerial exercises.
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