Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Jerusalem Thursday, with the three nations signing a trilateral research and development agreement to advance joint ventures and projects.

It was the three leaders’ second meeting, which Netanyahu said “reflects the close and tightening relations between the countries. Relations between our three countries are strategically important for strengthening stability and establishing a regular framework for countries with common interests.”

Netanyahu held separate and joint meetings with the Greek and the Cypriot leaders, and shared his plan to promote the formation of a regional task force specializing in natural disaster response. The multinational task force would come to the aid of countries in the region that are struck by disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes or floods, and would assist in search and rescue efforts and provide logistical support and humanitarian aid.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem Thursday, Netanyahu said regarding the agreement with Greece and Cyprus, “There are shared values between us. We are three democracies in the eastern Mediterranean. We’ve come to the conclusion quite a few years ago that we have so much to gain by cooperating with each other and we’re doing that, point of fact, including with the new agreement we signed today.”

Cyprus and Greece were among the first countries to send firefighting teams to help fight the wave of blazes across Israel in late November.