ATHENS (EJP)---Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has promised to help Israel get closer ties with the European Union and gain access to European markets, in a meeting Thursday with a visiting delegation of American Jewish leaders.

The promise is another sign of the fast improvement in once cool ties between Athens and Jerusalem. It is also seen as a drive to promote investment in Greece, a country severely hit by the economic crisis.

Relations between the EU and Israel hit a low point two years ago after Israel's operation against Hamas in Gaza. Since then, Israeli efforts to upgrade its relations with the EU were put on hold, the Europeans repeatedly denouncing construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and linking EU-Israel upgrade to progress in the Mideast peace process.  

"We see the European market expanding to the Mediterranean and certainly we would like to integrate Israel into this European market," Papandreou told delegates of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a central coordinating body that represents 52 American Jewish organizations.   

"I think this is vital for Israel's economy but also for its strategic security," he said.

The Greek Prime Minister also said Greece would use its influence to call on Egypt to continue to observe its peace agreements with Israel. He said Greece would urge the EU build democratic institutions, drawing on its experience in post-Communist eastern Europe.

Relations between Greece and Israel have never been better. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman both visited Athens.  The two countries recently launched a series of negotiations for potential cooperation deals in tourism, agriculture, defense and hi-tech innovation. They are to hold a joint cabinet meeting in Israel in April.

Greece had traditionally close ties with the Palestinians and Arab countries and only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1991.