Documento: Achilles Shield project could make Greece dependent on Israel

Documento newspaper published in Greece, in its file titled "'Shield' for Russia, not for Turkey", evaluated the Achilles Shield project in terms of the history of Israeli companies, control of the source codes of the system and Greece's technological dependence on Israel.

The news stated that IAI owns 31 percent of Cytrox, which developed the Predator spyware in 2017, and has a representative on the company's board of directors.

It was reminded that Cytrox later became part of the Intellexa structure linked to former Israeli intelligence officer Tal Dilian, and Predator was at the center of the scandal regarding the monitoring of the phones of politicians and journalists in Greece.

For this reason, Documento emphasized that the past of IAI, with which Greece will cooperate in the multi-billion-euro air defense project, should be examined separately.

"Even the USA did not buy the system"

Military sources whose views were included in the news stated that the critical part of the Achilles Shield is a structure consisting of sensors, prevention systems and command-control center.

Military sources stated that the "keys" of the system will remain in Israel's hands and said, "The government has managed to make us dependent on Israeli diplomacy." made his assessment.

The same sources pointed out that even the USA did not purchase the system in question, and stated that one of the reasons for this was that Washington could not control the system in its entirety, and the other was that Israel did not transfer all of the critical technology.

In the news, it was noted that the assessment that "Even the USA did not purchase the system" raises questions about the extent of Greece's authority over the source codes and command-control infrastructure.

Former Ambassador Vasilis Bornovas also underlined that access to source codes is one of the main issues in the procurement of similar weapon systems.

Bornovas argued that not all elements of the Achilles Shield are directly aimed at Türkiye, and stated that a significant part of the system is evaluated within the framework of Russia and the "threat that may come from the north".

Bornovas said that there have been relations between Türkiye and Israel since 1948, and that the current tension between Ankara and Tel Aviv may not be permanent and that the two countries have strong armies.

Themis Tzimas, Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Nicosia, criticized the "dissolution of national defense", claiming that a defense agreement the size of the Achilles Shield was advanced without giving sufficient information to the public.

902.gr news site, close to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), also stated that the "Achilles Shield" air and missile defense system planned to be procured from Israel may expose the country to new risks instead of increasing Greece's security.

The news stated that Israeli officials examined the military infrastructure in Greece in detail in order to determine where the elements of the system would be placed, so that Israel had comprehensive information about Greece's critical military facilities.