According to reports reaching the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey has prevented Israel from participating in NATO’s annual exercise on “resilience and emergency preparedness”.

As reported by the Israeli news site Ynet News, Turkey blocked Israel from joining the NATO exercise.

The decision to prevent participation in the annual exercise on “resilience and emergency preparedness” was made approximately two weeks ago after a meeting between Israeli diplomats, NATO’s exercise coordination team, and Bulgaria’s alliance delegation.

During the meeting, there was reportedly a strong desire for Israel to participate in the exercise.

Ynet, noting that Turkey’s move could derail Israel’s participation in the exercise, wrote, “NATO decisions require unanimity, and without an active partnership agreement, there is no bureaucratic mechanism forcing Turkey to allow Israel to participate in the alliance’s official activities.”

Currently, NATO has 32 member countries from North America and Europe.

TURKEY VETOES FOLLOWING GAZA ATTACKS
An Israeli official claimed that Turkey is using its veto power as a political tool. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, Turkey has argued that it should not engage with Israel in the alliance until the conflict ends. At the NATO summit in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the alliance cannot continue its partnership with the Israeli government. In response, former Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz called on NATO to expel Turkey after Erdoğan hinted at a possible military operation against Israel.