Barbara Opall-Rome
Singapore's Prime Minister Calls for Israel-Palestine Negotiations
JERUSALEM — Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his counterpart from Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, pledged Tuesday to expand cyber defense cooperation and high-tech trade ties.
In the first ever visit here by a head of the southeast Asian republic, Lee publicly credited Israel for decades of traditionally secret military support and defense trade, vowing to strengthen ties across numerous sectors.
“It all started in fact with defense relations between us,” Lee told Netanyahu at a Jerusalem press gathering. “We are very grateful to Israel for the assistance it granted us when independence was thrust upon us in August 1965 and when Singapore’s security and survival were in doubt. You helped us, the Israel Defense Forces helped us to build up the Singapore Armed Forces when other countries turned us down.”
Israeli defense officials and industry executives are traditionally closed-lipped — at Singapore’s request, they say — but noted that defense and security ties preceded formal diplomatic relations codified in 1969. They estimated the extent of bilateral defense cooperation, which includes defense exports and joint R&D, at an annual average of $500 million over the past decade.
In the early days of Singapore’s independence, Israeli Air Force officers and local industry helped build the country’s Air Command and Control Center and integrate Israeli air-to-air missiles on fighters procured from the US and other suppliers. Similar technical and conceptual experience was provided to Singapore’s Navy and Ground Forces; and the two countries enjoy routine training across a spectrum of combat disciplines, sources here said.
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