By David Dolan
DDolan.com 
In another sign of growing political ties between Greece and Israel, Greek President Karolos Papoulias is currently in Israel on an official state visit. It is the first such visit by a Greek head of state. Papoulias holds a mostly ceremonial post, with the Prime Minister wielding the real political power in Greece. Nevertheless the official state visit is seen in Jerusalem as another important milestone in the erection of strong diplomatic ties between the two Mediterranean countries.
Many decades ago, former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou set an anti-Israel tone in the country. The late long-ruling Premier was known for his fairly good relations with the Arab world and with the Soviet Union, which was closely allied with Egypt and Syria in those days. He ordered a Greek ship to sail to the coast of Lebanon to rescue Yasser Arafat from Israeli hands during the Lebanon War in 1983, delivering the late PLO leader safely to Tunisia. However Greek relations with Israel began to markedly improve several years ago after close Israeli links to the Muslim country of Turkey began to sour.
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