Unholy Alliance? What's Uniting Greece, Israel, Cyprus and the UAE? | Opinion Harun Karčić , journalist On 5/12/21 at 7:00 AM EDT Take Greece and Israel for example. Despite its economy being in tatters, Greece recently inked a defense deal worth a staggering $1.65 billion with Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems for the construction and operation of an air force training center in Kalamata, Greece. Around the time of this agreement, Greece hosted its annual Iniohos multinational military exercise where Israeli fighter jets flew alongside Emirati, Greek and Cypriot aircraft—a rare public display of the United Arab Emirates' growing military cooperation with Israel. Across the Mediterranean, Cyprus hosted a high-level meeting of top diplomats from Israel, the UAE and Greece for talks they said reflected a "new strategic membership'' that stretches from the Arabian Gulf to Europe.