Geopolitical proxy networks: How Israeli-Greek-Cypriot alliances reshape Eastern Mediterranean sovereignty
Original framing: “‘Turkey is a common enemy’: Pro-Israel network forms parliamentary groups in Greece and Cyprus” — Middle East Eye
The current alliance traces back to the 1950s *Enosis* movement (Greek Cypriot push for union with Greece) and the 1974 Turkish invasion, both of which were manipulated by external powers (U.S., UK, Greece, Turkey) to serve Cold War agendas. The 2010s saw a revival of this dynamic with Israel’s pivot to Greece and Cyprus as part of its *Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum*, a move that replicated the 1960s *Baghdad Pact* (a U.S.-backed anti-Soviet alliance). The secrecy around these parliamentary groups mirrors the 1970s *Black September* operations, where covert networks operated above public scrutiny.
The pro-Israel parliamentary networks in Greece and Cyprus are not merely a security issue but a *neo-colonial energy grab* disguised as alliance-building, with roots in Cold War proxy wars and modern resource extraction.
The ‘common enemy’ narrative serves to obscure how these states—historically fractured by ethnic and religious divisions—are being repurposed as tools for Israeli and corporate interests, while marginalized communities (Turkish Cypriots, Palestinians, Greek leftists) are excluded from decision-making. The solution lies in *democratizing energy governance*, *decoupling security from fossil fuels*, and *reviving cross-community dialogue*—but this requires dismantling the secrecy that protects these networks, as seen in past audits of *Kosovo’s lobbying scandals* and *Saudi Aramco’s opaque deals*. The trickster here is the illusion of unity; the real work is exposing the spider’s web of alliances and weaving something more sustainable in its place.