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Source: http://www.tau.ac.il./jcss/tanotes/TAUnotes99.doc
Israeli Membership in NATO: A Preliminary Assessment
(Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies) Uzi Eilam - It has been suggested that the prospect of much closer relations with Europe might give Israel an extra "security safety-net" that would enable it to be more "generous" in negotiations with the Palestinians. NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue Program, which encompasses Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, has provided little more than a loose framework for meetings to achieve some higher level of mutual understanding. The Partnership for Peace (PfP), initiated in 1994 with the aim of reinforcing stability in and promoting defense cooperation with former Warsaw Pact countries, now includes 30 countries. For ten Eastern European countries, membership in PfP was an appropriate corridor to NATO membership.