On Sunday morning, a Greek translation of Daniel Sokatch's book Can We Talk About Israel? landed on the doorsteps of tens of thousands of Greeks who subscribe to Kathimerini, the country's most widely read newspaper. The timing was no coincidence, reflecting growing interest in Israel, particularly among the Greek right.
The change is dramatic. Greece was once among the most hostile European countries toward Israel and was the last country in the Western bloc to establish full diplomatic relations with it, doing so only in 1990. For decades, Greece supported Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1982, the government of Andreas Papandreou even hosted Yasser Arafat in Athens on his way from Beirut to Tunis. Hostility was also deeply rooted in the public. A 2019 survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that 67% of Greeks held antisemitic attitudes, compared with a European average of 24%. Since then, however, a remarkable reversal has taken place.
Athens
(Photo: Petr F. Marek / shutterstock)
It began with the Mavi Marmara crisis in 2010, which drove Israel away from Turkey and brought it closer to Greece. In 2016, the trilateral Israel-Greece-Cyprus framework was established, growing stronger as Turkey became a shared strategic threat. The security alliance gradually began to influence public opinion as well.
A 2025 ADL survey found a decline of nearly 20% in antisemitic attitudes in Greece. Local polls pointed to an especially sharp shift on the right, where hostility toward Israel fell by 33.5% between 2019 and 2022. A Pew Research Center survey in March found that the Greek right was the most supportive of Israel among political groups in the countries surveyed, with 45% expressing support. "Public opinion in our country has shifted dramatically in a pro-Israel direction," Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said last week. Migration Minister Thanos Plevris declared that Israel's war against terrorism is a war being fought by the entire Western world.
The identities of the speakers are particularly surprising: Georgiadis rose to prominence in a far-right party with an antisemitic past, while Plevris is the son of a neo-Nazi ideologue and Holocaust denier. Both now distance themselves from those positions. Even Ilias Kasidiaris, one of the leaders of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, recently called for closer ties with Israel.
A similar process is taking place in Cyprus. Last week, a coalition of lawmakers from three parties that together hold 33 of the 56 seats in parliament established a local chapter of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel organization. Among those involved were members of ELAM, which emerged as an offshoot of Golden Dawn.
On the other side, the far left in both countries opposes the rapprochement. Greek communists are calling for relations to be severed, while former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis warns of a takeover of parliament by the "Israeli lobby." In Cyprus, allegations of an "Israeli takeover" through immigration, schools and synagogues have also emerged. Similar claims have been echoed by the Lemkin Institute and UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
Dr. Neil BarPhoto: Gil NetanzonYet between these extremes, the Greek public now tends to lean toward Israel. A July survey found that 42.2% of Greeks regard Israel as an ally, second only to France. Another poll in May found that 55.7% support maintaining the alliance with Israel, including about one-third of voters from far-left parties. From a hostile country, Greece has become one of Israel's most important strategic partners, and the change is no longer confined to the corridors of power.
Dr. Neil Bar is affiliated with the Department of Government and Political Thought at the University of Haifa's School of Political Science, the university's Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism, and the Center for Right-Wing Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.