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| Israel joins NATO exercise for the first time
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JERUSALEM (EJP)--- Israel has participated in a naval exercise with NATO in the Black Sea.
This constituted Israel's first experience in joining NATO during its exercises.
The exercise, which took place at the end of June, was named 'Cooperative Mako 06' and more than 30 ships and aircraft carrying more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel took part.
The Naples, Italy-based Allied Joint Force Command coordinated the exercise, which was run near Constanta in Romania.
Israel was invited to participate in the exercise as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue - a 10-year-old forum for political consultations and practical cooperation between countries of the Mediterranean region including Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Jordan.
"Great excitement"
Lt.-Col. Ilan Lavi told the Jerusalem Post," The excitement is great. We feel like we are making history by becoming the first Israeli ship to participate in a NATO exercise."
Lavi explained that it was important that Israel learns different operating systems, especially NATO's. "The idea is to create a better dialogue between us and NATO," explained Lavi.
"They use different systems, a different operational language and just do things differently so we have a lot to learn."
Lavi was in charge of the Eilat, one of Israel's Sa'ar 5-class missile ship during the exercise.
Accompanying the Eilat on the maneuvers was an Israel Air Force helicopter.
Greater cooperation
In addition to forces from Israel and nine NATO countries, Cooperative Mako '06 also included military forces from Algeria, Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Georgia.
Observers from the United Arab Emirates also took part, as were teams from the United Nations and Red Cross.
“Cooperative Mako”, according to an AJFC news release, is designed to ensure that NATO and other partner nations are trained to conduct joint missions, if necessary.
In related news, a US House of Representatives committee unanimously approved a resolution that calls for enhancing Israel’s relationship with NATO.
The resolution recommends upgrading Israel’s affiliation to a “leading member of NATO’s Individual Cooperation Program,” a promotion the bill says ultimately will lead to Israel’s full membership in the alliance.
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