ATHENS, Greece—A senior Greek government minister on Monday voiced strong support for burgeoning ties with Israel amid a strengthening regional alliance, dismissing as “antisemitic propaganda” claims by anti-Israel activists and saying they have little impact on the government or Greek society at large.
The remarks, made ahead of the launch of an Israel Allies Caucus in the Greek parliament on Tuesday, came days after the Greek government spokesman slammed an anti-Israel rally held on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack as a “hideous initiative” driven by “hatred and obsessions.”
“Our public opinion has shifted dramatically to pro-Israel,” Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis told JNS. “We are almost an exception within the EU.”
Georgiadis, who serves as vice president of the ruling center-right party led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said that the isolated but heavily reported demonstrations and protests against Israel in Greece over the last couple of years, many of which were carried out by migrants, were rejected by the majority of society.
“We had some demonstrations from leftist parties that are antisemitic, but as a government we resist antisemitism, and as a society we resist antisemitism,” he said. “Their propaganda does not influence us.”
“We believe that the battle Israel is fighting against terrorism is also a battle for the whole Western world,” Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told JNS. “We support this battle because we believe that we have to destroy the terrorists.”
The Greek ministers were among scores of government officials and entrepreneurs who attended an Athens gala organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Israel Allies Foundation, a faith-based advocacy group known for its parliamentary network of pro-Israel legislators around the world.
Israel, Greece and Cyprus maintain a strategic trilateral partnership focused on energy integration, defense cooperation and regional security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The burgeoning ties also overlap with growing friction between the three nations and Turkey.
Earlier this year, Israel and Greece signed a landmark $3.5 billion defense deal—the largest in their history—to build a multilayered air-defense network for Greece known as Achilles Shield.
“Greece and Israel should be extremely close, and we are destined to be both because of our proximity and shared geopolitical interests,” former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told JNS.
Samaras, who is preparing to launch a new right-wing Greek political party, played a foundational role in establishing ties with Israel in 1990 as foreign minister, leading the first government-to-government meetings with the Jewish state and moving Greece away from its traditional pro-Arab foreign policy stance.
“Greece is a significant strategic partner for Israel in the region, and the connection with the United States, our closest ally, just further deepens this blossoming relationship,” said Israeli Ambassador to Greece Pninat Yanay.