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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Israel will ask to station IAF jets in Cyprus | |
| 2012-02-07 | |
Israeli and Cypriot officials are planning to discuss allowing the Israeli Air Force to station jets in the neighboring island, Chinese news agency Xinua reported Tuesday.
According to the report, an Israeli embassy official told the Cyprus Mail in January that Netanyahu "will come to Cyprus to emphasize the good relations between the two countries and to strengthen the bilateral relations, which are already good." Xinua said the Cypriot OnlyCy.com website reported that in September 2011 Israel asked Cyprus to permit stationing its aircraft at the Andreas Papandreou airbase in Paphos. However, an Israeli official told the Chinese news agency this week that the prospect of stationing planes in Cyprus "is at the exploratory stage - it's not clear if it will or won't happen." The official was quoted as saying that a potential offshore airbase "is an existing option, and we're investigating the possibility," but cautioned that such an agreement "isn't totally sewn up." In January, Israel and Cyprus signed two defense agreements which Cypriot Minister of Defense Demetris Eliades said "set the basis for the further development of relations in the area of defense cooperation." | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #11 might overfly Syria on the way. Special delivery |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-02-07 21:36 |
| #10 Cyprus is only about 200 miles further from Tehran than Israel is, so it's gotta be a thorn in a nuclear Iran's side. It would give Israel two angles on Lebanon and Syria, which would both be a more serious thorn in Iran's side if they are considering a conventional attack on Israel, and Israel considers Iran to be a non-nuclear power. |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-02-07 21:36 |
| #9 I bet that the Israeli's use these as escorts for a strike package or perhaps load them with 'special' ordinance for a second strike if needed. It just makes the calculation of where and what is coming more complex. Who is watching the runways and reporting back to Iran? Who manages them? Just all around a cheap easy way to make extra problems for Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Egypt and Gaza. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-02-07 21:01 |
| #8 "Someone stole the cookie from the cookie jar" Probably dem eeeevil Juices, swksvolFF. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-02-07 19:35 |
| #7 Someone stole the cookie from the cookie jar (Wuz me @ #6) |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-02-07 17:38 |
| #6 Beat me to it SG5793 Dispersian is good Erdogon is an ass And, those piece tortillas also tend to float by there |
| Posted by: Elmusing Protector of the Trolls8861 2012-02-07 17:36 |
| #5 Turkey has been drilling off Cyprus (with military escort) while threatening Greek Cypriot/Israeli/US companies from drilling. The Israelis are matching Turkey's escalation of force. A squadron of jets dispersed to Cyprus won't make any difference in a Mideast war and leaves them more vulnerable to terrorist/commando attack. But it does cement closer Israeli-Greek Cypriot relations and any force escalation Turkey may try to prevent energy extraction can be met from Cyprus. |
| Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 2012-02-07 17:29 |
| #4 First thing that occurred to me was dispersal of assets to offset possible losses in the event of a nuclear exchange. Israel is a small dense target. Cyprus is close enough but not splash close. Iran is unlikely to nuke Cyprus, allowing a safe haven and another ratchet. I don't think that this is a counter against Turkey. But it does put a stick in Erd's eye. And maybe Greece is eye-ing the cash influx possibilities and the not so bitter thought of an annoyed Erd. win win for them. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2012-02-07 17:10 |
| #3 There are easier ways to do that. Moving a squadron to Cyprus is no small matter. It's similar to us having an airbase overseas. I don't see the strategic usefulness. Israel isn't going to attack Turkey (I think), and if it wanted to do so it has plenty of reach already. It doesn't help with Iran or Syria, and doesn't really help with Egypt. Plus the Cypriots, I assume, would have some sort of veto power over Israel using the base for an attack elsewhere. So I don't get it. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-02-07 17:01 |
| #2 Quid pro quo w.r.t. the Turks. The northern half is occupied by Turkey. |
| Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 2012-02-07 16:25 |
| #1 So someone explain to me why Israel wants to do this. I don't get it. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-02-07 16:21 |