This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. It follows a deepening of UK-Israeli relations which culminated in the signing of a new 10 year trade and defence pact, which began with the UK adopting its post-Brexit Global Britain strategy, Israel's former ambassador said last night. Mark Regev, Israel's ambassador to London until last year, said that Israel's ambassador to London has witnessed an incremental upgrade of the defence relationship throughout my time in London.
We have always cooperated in the intelligence and cyberspheres, and we already had a positive relationship. When we saw foreign fighters going back from Syria to their countries of origin, that was valuable. I have no doubt that this intel saved lives. But I saw an extension of the areas where we cooperate and the depth of that cooperation particularly in military-to- military operations. More Royal Navy ships visited Israeli ports, for the first time the Israeli Air Force came to the UK for training exercises with the RAF, we are seeing the RAF conducting joint exercises here. It's the same for other services as well. Joint projects will include AI and cyber technology developments and even anti-drone capabilities, and include radical Islamist terrorism and the threat posed by Iran's regional and nuclear ambitions.
RAF Typhoons shot down a UAV armed with heat-seeking missiles believed to have been op-erated by iran-backed militias targeting the US al-Tanf base in Syria last week. Israel's air force has carried out at least two raids over the past 18 months to prevent a resurgence of its production of deadly nerve agents by the Assad regime, with Israel reportedly carrying out at least two raids over the past 18 months. Like the RAF, the IAF uses F-35 fighter jets, though they are a different variant and sharing the techniques used in those raids will form the heart of a training exercise between the air forces, which will take place next year over the Negev desert in southern Israel, sources said. Both air forces are forging stronger ties. An invitation for a joint exercise has been extended. Israel has combat-experience with the F-35, the lessons of which are invaluable to the RAF and that it is willing to share, and we are keen, though we are just awaiting government approval, said an RAF source said that RAF head Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston and his Israeli counterpart, Major General Amikam Norkin, had formed strong ties after a visit to Israel.
The MoU in which foreign secretary Liz Truss and her counterpart Yair Lapid declared a new strategic plan for the next decade spanning cyber, technology, trade and defence would not have been possible without the Abraham Accords last year, although deepening cooperation with Israel was a tenet of Global Britain. These saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco join Egypt and Jordan in normalising relations with Israel. There were always limitations, but there was always a mutual respect between our militaries and willingness to cooperate. Amb Regev said that there were many Whitehallers who felt the need for that cooperation to be given a low profile for many years. There were concerns that a public relationship with Israel could jeopardise these relationships, and the UK has important allies and defence relationships in the region. With the Abraham Accords it became clear that the risk of negative blowback was gone and that Britain s partners in the region had no problem with the UK developing relations with Israel, as they were doing themselves. Amb Regev, whose father's life was saved during the Second World War when an RAF bomber raid on Magdeburg allowed him to escape Nazi clutches, said closer cooperation between our two countries makes both more secure.