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Jerusalem Post January 13, 2010 Israel seeks to influence NATO strategic review By YAAKOV KATZ -Israeli-NATO ties have increased dramatically in recent years. Chairman of the Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola visited Israel in November, and the Israeli Navy has announced plans to deploy a missile ship with Active Endeavour, a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea....Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to participate in top NATO forums.... Israel is launching a diplomatic initiative in an effort to influence the outcome of NATO's new Strategic Concept which is currently under review by a team of experts led by former United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright. On Thursday, the third seminar on the Strategic Concept will open in Oslo and will be attended by officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Several weeks ago, a former senior Israeli diplomat met privately with Albright to discuss Israeli interests in the concept that is under review. The decision to develop a new concept was made during a meeting of NATO heads of state in Strasbourg in April. The Strategic Concept consists of the core NATO documents that establish and reflect the transatlantic consensus, goals and interests. The current concept was formulated in 1999 when NATO consisted of just 19 members, compared to the 28 members it has today. Under the mandate received by NATO Sec.-Gen. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Albright's team will present its recommendation for a new concept at the alliance's next major summit in October 2010. It will then be evaluated by member countries and approved. Israel's hope is to get the new concept to focus on the issue of nuclear proliferation and the global war on terror. The concern in Israel, as demonstrated by the criticism it faced following Operation Cast Lead last year, is that European countries have yet to recognize that all western countries, including Israel, are fighting the same war on terror, whether it is in Afghanistan, Iraq or the Gaza Strip. "We want the focus to be on Iran, nuclear proliferation and the issue of terrorism," one official explained. "There is an understanding that NATO needs to transform itself to remain relevant in a post 9/11 world." Israeli-NATO ties have increased dramatically in recent years. Chairman of the Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola visited Israel in November, and the Israeli Navy has announced plans to deploy a missile ship with Active Endeavour, a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea...later this year. Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to participate in top NATO forums even though Israel is not a member of the alliance. Israel is a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which was created in 1994 to foster ties with Middle Eastern countries like Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: [email protected] or [email protected] Daily digest option available. ============================== --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bNM5nn.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [email protected] For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------
