A source in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Türkiye has prevented Israel from participating in the annual NATO drills titled "Resilience and Emergency Readiness."
The Hebrew news site Ynet reported that the decision was made following a meeting between Israeli diplomats and the NATO exercise coordination team, along with NATO representatives from Bulgaria.
The source revealed that the meeting had strongly welcomed Israel's participation; however, the Turkish campaign is capable of obstructing Israel's involvement in the drills. It was noted that NATO's decisions generally require consensus, and there is no bureaucratic mechanism that would force Türkiye to include Israel in the official activities of the alliance without a valid partnership agreement with Israel.
For his part, an Israeli official accused Türkiye of using the veto right as a political tool, pointing out that Türkiye's position weakens regional cooperation and the alliance's ability to face global challenges.
The Israeli official further explained that Türkiye's use of the veto harms strategic partnerships instead of promoting unity and collective security, noting that obstructing Israel's cooperation with NATO would not contribute to stability but would weaken the core values of the alliance.
