Quds city, Feb 24, SPA -- NATO wants to increase its military cooperation with Israel, especially in the areas of sharing intelligence and fighting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the alliance's secretary general said in an interview published Thursday. But Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told Israel's Haaretz daily that NATO's recent focus on the Mediterranean Dialogue, a forum of Israel and six Arab countries, is not "designed as a first step to a future membership." NATO's talks with Israel and other Mideast countries are carefully balanced, "given the sensitivities in the region," de Hoop Scheffer said. De Hoop Scheffer said his arrival in Israel late Wednesday, and meetings Thursday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom are intended to enhance "the political and practical dimensions" of NATO's dialogue with Mideast countries. NATO especially wants to upgrade cooperation "in areas such as the military-to-military cooperation to achieve a better interoperability between our forces, the fight against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he said. NATO is "looking favorably" at an Israeli proposal to upgrade relations, including intelligence-sharing, and access to research and development funds and NATO's spare parts network, which allows member states to exchange needed military equipment, de Hoop Scheffer said.
