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Israel Sees Shift in Relations with Britain
(Ha'aretz) Noa Landau - Over the past several years, relations between Israel and the UK have grown much closer. In three weeks, a senior member of the royal family, Prince William, is to make an official visit to Israel, initiated by the UK. On numerous occasions in the past, the Foreign Office had blocked such moves. Experts point to rising trade figures, increasingly transparent military cooperation, and even the hope of a creeping shift in Britain's voting patterns in international institutions. In November, the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy, docked in Haifa. A few months earlier, joint exercises between the Israel Air Force and a Royal Air Force squadron based in Cyprus were made public. Israeli officials regularly cite the situation in Syria as an engine of change regarding Britain. More generally, they note the shift in the international community's focus in the region away from the Palestinians and toward the global war on terror, in which Israel is an important partner. Moreover, in expectation of Brexit, the UK included Israel as one of 10 countries with which it seeks to sign new bilateral free trade agreements. Israel has been tagged as one of the preferred countries in the first phase.