Israel is not a member of NATO but has enjoyed military cooperation with the body in a number of fields for more than 20 years and is currently a partner of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program with seven friendly nations bordering on the waterway (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania).

BRUSSELS—In yet another sign of deepening cooperation between Israel and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Camille Grand, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, made this week a two-day visit to Israel.

During the visit, he met with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to discuss the ongoing practical cooperation between NATO and Israel, and exchange views on the current situation in the Mediterranean region.

They also discussed security challenges in the region, as well as weapons proliferation and arms control, cyber defence, research and development. In other meetings with civilian and military officials, Grand discussed civil preparedness and air defence.

Israel is not a member of NATO but has enjoyed military cooperation with the body in a number of fields for more than 20 years and is currently a partner of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program with seven friendly nations bordering on the waterway (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania).

In NATO presented the Mediterranean nations the Individual Cooperation Program (ICP), which is a bilateral framework aimed to enable better planning of the cooperation with NATO. Israel was the first of the Mediterranean nations to accept NATO’s proposal to join the ICP and signed the agreement in October 2006.

In a significant upgrading of ties, in 2017 NATO granted Israel a permanent office at its headquarters in Brussels.

The Israeli ambassador to NATO, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, is also ambassador to the European Union.