Israel to help Greece build an air defense shield in a landmark weapons deal

TEL AVIV — Israel signed a multibillion-dollar deal Monday to build an air defense shield in Greece, strengthening an alliance between the Mediterranean countries rooted in shared concerns about regional rival Turkey.

Israel’s Defense Ministry said the $3.5-billion deal for the new system — named Achilles Shield — was the largest between the two Mediterranean countries and one of its largest military deals ever. Israeli military exports have surged in recent years.

“Israel and Greece share common strategic interests and face shared regional challenges at a time when actors with hegemonic ambitions are seeking to expand their influence and undermine stability in the region,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Israeli arms exports at record highs

The agreement comes as Israeli weapons exports have reached record highs with more than $19 billion last year, a 30% increase from 2024, according to official data, despite widespread criticism of Israel’s conduct in its wars in Gaza, with Hezbollah and with Iran.

Experts say governments look to Israel because its weapons are battle-tested and they’re able to see in real time that the munitions and systems work.

Israel and Greece have deepened defense ties in the last decade. Monday’s signing, however, marks the most significant deal between the two as Greece focuses on modernizing its armed forces to keep pace with its neighbor and fellow NATO member Turkey amid long-standing disputes over sea boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean.

Israel has seen its own relations with Turkey deteriorate during Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s more than two-decade rule. Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, and the two countries are now both competing for influence in post-Assad Syria. Israel struck an air base in Syria earlier this month, saying it wanted to prevent Turkish troops from deploying there.

Previous deals between the two countries included a $1.65-billion agreement with Israeli defense contractor Elbit to build a flight training school in southern Greece as well as the planned sale of Israeli rocket launchers, anti‑tank guided missiles and drones.

Greece: Old defense doctrines ‘unrealistic’

Israel says Monday’s agreement is the first time it will provide a complete array of defense weapons against a range of threats from ballistic missiles to drones.

It includes multiple Israeli systems such as David Sling and SPYDER as well as a new national command and control system. Besides the agreement, a complementary deal valued at $30 million was signed for the sale of Rafael’s Drone Dome systems, it said.

“Modern conflicts have already altered the parameters of military defense and deterrence,” Greece’s Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said after the agreement was signed.

“Technology, ballistic missiles, satellite communications, unmanned systems, cyber threats, hybrid forms of warfare and the interconnection of fields of operations have long rendered preexisting defense doctrines completely unrealistic,” he said.

Greek and Israeli officials did not refer to Turkey by name Monday. But Dendias has repeatedly said that tension with Turkey is driving Greece’s arms spending program and last month referred to the country as “a clear and well defined threat.” More than half of the Israeli arms industry’s sales are for missiles, rockets and air-defense systems.

For the first time, Israel has surpassed the United Kingdom in its share of global arms exports, making it the world’s seventh-biggest supplier, according to a March report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Mednick and Gatopoulos write for the Associated Press. Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece