Visiting Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev and Prime Minister Shimon Peres have signed a military cooperation pact aimed at boosting Moscow’s relations with Israel.
Peres and Grachev signed last Friday a memo of understanding, which seeks to enhance military ties during the next two years.
The pact calls for exchanges of military officials and visits to Israeli and Russian military sites.
Grachev, whose visit here was the first by a Russian defense minister, said the agreement also opened the way for cooperation on the design and modernization of weapons.
But he denied reports that the agreement included secret provisions enabling Russia to sell weapons to Israel.
“We are not hiding anything,” he said during a tour of northern Israel. “Russia and Israel have not signed any secret accord in addition to what has already been published.”
During his stay, Grachev proposed the establishment of a regional security system for the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, offering Russia’s help in setting it up.
Russia, a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process, re-established ties with Israel in 1991 after 24 years.
Grachev’s visit to Israel reflected efforts by Moscow to pursue a more balanced policy in the Middle East, after years in which Moscow was the chief arms supplier to some of Israel’s Arab neighbors.
“For Russia, this is not a simple step, since we have military relations with several Middle Eastern countries, but we recognize Israel’s uniqueness and special position in the region and the world,” Grachev said.
Peres welcomed Moscow’s spirit of cooperation when he met with Grachev.
“Your coming to Israel symbolizes, more than anything, the end to the sad chapter in relations between us,” Peres said. “We expect to move forward in deepening cooperation with the large country that you represent.”
During their meeting, Peres briefed Grachev on Israel’s peace policies and also voiced concerns about the threat of Islamic fundamentalism to regional stability.
Peres also said Israel was worried about Russia’s plans to build a nuclear reactor in Iran. Grachev countered by saying that the reactor would be for civilian purposes only.
Also last Friday, Grachev toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. He also visited the grave of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and laid a wreath at the site.
On Sunday, Grachev inspected some of Israel’s most advanced weaponry when he visited an air base in northern Israel.
The Russian defense minister met Monday with Foreign Minister Ehud Barak.
He also met with the family of missing Israeli airman Ron Arad, who bailed out of a fighter plane over Lebanon in 1986 and was believed to have been held by pro-Iranian troops in Lebanon.
The last time any message was received that Arad was alive was in October 1987, and there have been sporadic reports that he was subsequently transferred to captivity in Iran.
Grachev promised the family to do what he could to help locate Arad.
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