Greece's move to prevent a flotilla from departing its ports and challenging Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip highlights the deepening ties between the once antagonistic countries.
After a previous attempt ended in violence last year, pro- Palestinian activists planned a second, bigger convoy this month to undermine the blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza by delivering aid without permission. The effort fizzled as Greece stopped seven ships from sailing, saying they lack proper safety equipment.
Greece only established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1990, one of the last European states to do so. Its strengthening rapport with Israel, spurred in recent years by the Jewish state's worsening relationship with Turkey, has led to increased military cooperation and the prospect of greater economic integration, including natural gas sales.
"The relationship with Israel is multidimensional; it's economics, tourism, military exercises, and part of the equation is natural gas," said Aristotle Tziampiris, associate professor of international relations at Greece's University of Piraeus. "It was the deterioration of the relationship between Turkey and Israel that provided an opening."
The impediments thrown up by Greece may have averted a repeat of last year's confrontation at sea, when Israeli naval commandos dropped from helicopters onto the deck of one ship in a six-vessel convoy. Israel says people on board shot first and attacked with iron bars, an allegation the passengers denied. Nine Turks were killed.
Greece instead offered to send the aid "through existing channels, as requested by the UN Secretary General," according to a July 3 statement from the Foreign Ministry.
