Christos Achniotis, a resident of Nicosia who was 16 when Turkish troops landed in Cyprus in 1974, says he believes Israel is “trying to dominate as much as possible, land-wise, company-wise”, as well as politically and militarily.
Israel’s reach in Cyprus now runs through the state’s most vital systems. Mekorot, Israel’s state water company, helps supply the island’s water. Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned arms maker, is supplying its new air defences. Israeli firms run a growing hospital network and hold a stake in the country’s largest gasfield.
According to the World Bank, Israel’s economy is about 15 times the size of Cyprus’s, and its military spending is about 73 times that of Cyprus. Just a 35-minute flight away, the island is strategically placed in the Mediterranean.
Cyprus gets about 80 percent of its drinking water from the sea. With dams just 21 percent full in March, desalination plants supply most of the water that comes out of its taps, according to the Water Development Department. Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said in June that desalination would cover almost all domestic demand by next year.
Mekorot has joint ventures with Cypriot firm Netcom that run two of the island’s five permanent desalination plants, at Larnaca and Episkopi, according to the Water Development Department. In August, Mekorot expanded its cooperation, signing a memorandum with the Nicosia District Water Board to help manage water and sewerage in the capital.
The Cypriot government presents the growing ties as a security alliance against Turkiye, but several Cypriots interviewed by Al Jazeera said they feared their country was handing another state control of systems it cannot live without.