The Israeli Navy will, for the first time, send a ship to Operation Active Endeavour, a Nato operation in the Mediterranean Sea, to fight against terrorism and to enhance security of shipping in the region.

The ship will be deployed mainly on search and rescue missions to improve interoperability and cooperation among participating countries.

The Israeli Navy will decide which ship to send on the operation while the navy awaits final approval from Nato to dispatch the vessel.

Operation Active Endeavour began shortly after 9/11 and Nato forces have since boarded around 148 suspicious vessels and escorted over 100,000 merchant vessels.