Israhellies claim god gave them Cyprus

[yankeedoodle]

Things are getting a little uncomfortable in Palestine for some jews, so, now they are claiming that god gave them Cyprus.  Wherever you live, get ready to leave, because the jews will eventually say god gave it to them. 

Around the same time, anti-Israeli videos began circulating on Cypriot social media, especially TikTok. These videos showed members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community speaking in Israeli-accented Hebrew about buying property in Cyprus, with some claiming that God promised them Cyprus after Israel (i.e., the occupied Palestinian territories).

The quiet occupation? Israeli migration and economic footprint in Cyprus under scrutiny
https://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=311723

According to the Zionist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, in a report published by the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, Cyprus is witnessing an unprecedented wave of public outrage against Israelis and "Zionism," as Israeli property purchases continue to expand.

The paper notes that amid warnings about a coordinated Zionist-Israeli plan for territorial dominance, the issue has become a central topic in Cyprus's political and media discourse.

The controversy peaked during a conference of the left-wing AKEL party, Cyprus's second-largest political party, where the party's Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou used harsh language against Zionists and warned that property acquisitions — especially near strategic areas and critical infrastructure — posed a serious threat to Cyprus's sovereignty.

He said what is happening in Cyprus is similar to what occurred in Palestine — where Zionists gradually took over land through real estate purchases.

Stefanou added that the property purchases are part of a "larger scheme" involving the creation of Zionist settlements, religious schools, synagogues, and increased economic influence by Zionists within Cyprus.

He emphasized that these warnings are not rooted in hatred or antisemitism, but in a real fear of territorial loss.

Stefanou accused the Cypriot government of failing to control foreign real estate sales — particularly to Zionists — and urged immediate action.

In a notable move, Abdullah Al-Atari, the Palestinian ambassador to Cyprus, participated as an official speaker at the AKEL party conference — marking the first time a foreign ambassador has done so — signaling growing regional sensitivity to the issue of Zionist migration and real estate purchases in Cyprus.

Around the same time, anti-Israeli videos began circulating on Cypriot social media, especially TikTok. These videos showed members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community speaking in Israeli-accented Hebrew about buying property in Cyprus, with some claiming that God promised them Cyprus after Israel (i.e., the occupied Palestinian territories).

Some of the videos, posted by Cypriot citizens, included captions such as: "Why are you stealing our homes?" — which sparked widespread reactions from local users.

Reports suggest that despite legal and political restrictions, Zionists also hold property in the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, anti-Zionist rhetoric and incitement against Israelis in Cyprus is rising amid growing warnings about the spread of anti-Zionist theories.

Oren Anolik, Israel's ambassador to Cyprus, issued a statement calling for the fight against antisemitism and demonization of Zionists, stressing that criticism of Israeli policies should not be directed at individual Israelis or investors in Cyprus.

In response, the AKEL party stated that its criticisms were based on sovereignty and economic concerns, and accused Israel's supporters of using the label of antisemitism to silence legitimate opposition.

Official statistics show that around 2,500 Israelis reside permanently in Cyprus, but estimates suggest that the real number may be between 12,000 and 15,000, as many enter the country using European passports.

Cypriot experts believe that due to increasing insecurity in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent years, Zionist migration and land acquisition in Cyprus is on the rise and could pose a long-term threat to national sovereignty.

This concern is growing at a time when Cyprus is facing a worsening housing crisis, and a sense is growing among parts of the population that "Israelis are buying everything."

Source https://www.mizanonline.ir/en/news/1709/the-quiet-occupation-israeli-migration-and-economic-footprint-in-cyprus-under-scrutiny

[yankeedoodle]

Map of Cyprus. The gray line separates the northern part, occupied by Turkish Cypriots, from the southern part, occupied by Greek Cypriots and the Jewish settlers.

Israeli Migration Sparks Debate in Cyprus
https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2025/07/18/israeli-migration-sparks-debate-in-cyprus/

What began as a quiet migration of affluent Israeli families to southern Cyprus has now triggered fears of foreign encroachment and strategic displacement.

Since 2021, nearly 4,000 properties have been snapped up by Israelis, particularly in the southern districts of Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos. But this isn't just a real estate story—it's a political one. High walls, religious schools, kosher shops, synagogues, and business hubs are emerging in these areas, forming what critics say resemble "settlements in all but name."

The backlash has been swift. Stefanos Stefanou, the General Secretary of Cyprus's main opposition party Akel, voiced his concerns about Israel's growing influence on the Mediterranean island: "At some point, we'll discover our own land doesn't belong to us," he warned. "These are not just holiday homes. These are settlements in all but name."

Outside observers increasingly describe the wave of Israeli migration as a "strategic settlement enterprise."

The migration has come in waves. Israelis first started showing up during the COVID-19 lockdowns, then again amid Netanyahu's 2023 judicial reforms, and now in the wake of the Iranian missile strikes of 2025. Today, more than 15,000 Israelis live in southern Cyprus. The trend shows no sign of slowing. Many of these settlers are not disillusioned liberals but deeply Zionist and well-resourced.

Though modern headlines paint Israel and Cyprus as close energy and security partners, the relationship has long been complicated—and often adversarial.

Jewish ties to Cyprus stretch back more than two millennia, beginning in the 4th century BCE, when Jewish communities were firmly established under Hellenistic and later Roman rule. By the Roman period, Jews had built synagogues in cities like Golgoi, Lapethos and Constantia-Salamine. However, this early flourishing came to a violent end during the Kitos War (115–117 CE), when Jewish rebels led a revolt that, according to Roman historian Cassius Dio, ended in the massacre of over 240,000 Greek-Cypriots. The Roman historian provided a particularly gruesome account of Jewish behavior during this war, describing how Jews would "cook their flesh, make belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood, and wear their skins for clothing."

In response to these acts of brazen savagery, Roman authorities imposed a total ban on Jewish presence on the island, which lasted for centuries. Despite this ban, Jews gradually returned during the Byzantine period, with evidence of synagogue renovation and renewed community life. Tensions, however, persisted.

Under Emperor Heraclius, Cypriot Jews reportedly attacked Christian monasteries, and subsequent Arab raids in the 7th century led to widespread displacement. By the 12th century, Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela observed that Cyprus was home to a variety of Jewish sects—Karaites, Rabbanites, and heretical groups like the Epikursim—concentrated in cities such as Famagusta, Nicosia, and Paphos. Yet even during this medieval renaissance, discrimination remained: Jews in Cyprus were required to wear the yellow badge throughout the 14th century, and their communities existed under legal and religious constraints.

The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571 brought renewed opportunities. Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal and Spain found refuge on the island and other key hubs of the Ottoman Empire such as Constantinople and Salonika. Famagusta became a key commercial hub, though by the late Ottoman period, the Jewish community in Cyprus had again begun to decline.

Under British rule from 1878 to 1960, Zionist thinkers briefly entertained Cyprus as a substitute homeland. Several agricultural settlement attempts were made—most notably the Margo settlement near Larnaca—but all ultimately failed, as younger generations opted to occupy territory in Palestine. Following the end of British rule, Cyprus's Jewish population dwindled to just 25 individuals by 1970.

The modern Jewish revival began in the early 2000s. From a few hundred residents in 2003, the population ballooned to over 12,000 by 2023. By 2025, it is estimated that there are roughly 12,000 to 15,000 Jews living on the island, many in gated compounds complete with religious and economic infrastructure—sparking fresh controversy among Cypriots.

Parallel to this long community history is the evolution of state-to-state relations between Israel and Cyprus, which have fluctuated between mutual distrust and strategic cooperation. Diplomatic ties were formally established in 1960, the year of Cyprus's independence. Yet during the Cold War era, Cyprus maintained a cautious distance, aligning with Arab states and reacting warily to Israel's military ties with Turkey, especially after the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island.

The 1980s marked a low point in bilateral relations. Cyprus recognized the State of Palestine in 1988, hosted Yasser Arafat, and allowed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operations. Diplomatic tensions flared, including the infamous Larnaca yacht killings in 1985 and the car bombing of PLO officials in 1988. In 1993, a notable diplomatic incident occurred when Israel declared Cypriot First Lady Androulla Vassiliou—wife of then-President George Vasiliou—persona non grata after she led a delegation seeking to meet Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who was under Israeli house arrest in Ramallah. Relations remained strained until the 1993 Oslo Accords, after which a thaw began, marked by increased diplomatic engagement and cooperation.

By the 2010s, Cyprus-Israel relations had transformed dramatically. A 2010 agreement to delimit their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) set the stage for joint natural gas exploration and a broader strategic partnership. In 2011 and 2012, both Cypriot and Israeli heads of state — Dimitris Christofias and Benjamin Netanyahu — made historic reciprocal visits, cementing this energy-driven alliance.

In the 2020s, bilateral ties deepened further. Cooperation expanded to include emergency response, innovation, and infrastructure projects like the Great Sea Interconnector. However, regional instability has put this alliance under scrutiny. In 2024, Hezbollah warned Cyprus against supporting Israel militarily, while Turkey issued similar threats. Cyprus has nevertheless served as a critical logistical hub for Israeli operations, including humanitarian efforts during recent conflicts.

Most recently, Israeli real estate investment in southern Cyprus—largely post-2021—has sparked domestic controversy. As thousands of properties have been purchased and a growing Israeli population has settled, some Cypriot politicians have accused Israel of creating a "backyard" on the island.

The current migration wave cannot be understood apart from the post-October 7 landscape. The Hamas attack shattered Israel's aura of invincibility, while Hezbollah's ongoing rocket threats and Iran's dramatic missile salvos in 2024 and 2025 have upended the once-common belief that Israel was the safest place on Earth for Jews to live in.

In 2024 alone, 82,700 Israelis were recorded as having left the country, up from around 55,000 a year before, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. That figure itself was a sharp increase from the previous decade, when approximately 35,000 people left each year.

A 2025 AllJobs poll revealed that 73% of Israeli workers are now contemplating emigration, citing personal safety, political instability, and disillusionment with the state as key factors. Among the preferred destinations: the United States, Greece, and Cyprus.

In a symbolic sense, the dream of "Aliyah"—the Jewish return to Zion—has been replaced by a new exodus. Cyprus, with its close proximity, EU perks, and already growing Jewish infrastructure, has become an attractive haven.

Yet this migration is not without consequence. With settlements expanding and local resentment growing, Cyprus may find itself on the fault line of heightened ethnic tensions. As Israel's security erodes and its citizens flee, Cyprus could become the latest stage in a long historical sequence where Jewish migration enables subversion and communal backlash.

Cypriot leaders would be wise to close their doors to Jewish migration, lest they want their country to become the latest victim of Jewish perfidy.

[yankeedoodle]

Will Ankara allow Israel to turn Cyprus into another Palestine?
https://tapnewswire.com/2025/09/21/will-ankara-allow-israel-to-turn-cyprus-into-another-palestine/

Source: https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/09/19/will-ankara-allow-israel-to-turn-cyprus-into-another-palestine/

Some Turkish media outlets — above all TRT Haber and Aydınlık — announced at the end of August this year that Erdoğan's 2022 promise to significantly and almost dramatically increase Turkey's military presence in Northern Cyprus is finally being implemented. More precisely, the reinforcements are to be deployed on the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC — in Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti), whose sovereignty within the international community is currently recognized only by Türkiye. Nevertheless, this de-facto independent polity — established in 1974 after Türkiye's military intervention in response to a coup whose aim had been the union of the then-undivided island with Greece — holds observer status in important organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organization. It also maintains limited bilateral ties and contacts with a number of states, among them Russia (which has opened consular services in the TRNC), Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Germany, and even Greece, which in 2014 hosted a delegation from the northern Cypriot Turkish community.

Media reports claim that the number of Turkish soldiers on Northern Cyprus could very quickly exceed 100,000 from the current figure of roughly 40,000. Of course, the buildup is not limited to manpower: the planned major Turkish military reinforcement on the island is to be accompanied by deliveries of modern hardware — new weapons, combat vehicles, tanks, vessels, aircraft (including drones), plus ammunition and other equipment. The idea is to equip several divisions so that, both technically and organizationally, they become a highly complex and powerful deterrent force that would send a more-than-clear warning to any potential adversaries of Türkiye in the region. By all indications, these reinforcements will not cover only land, air and naval forces; they will also include ultra-modern units specialized in electronic warfare — now indispensable for contemporary combat — and missile units that, among other weapons, will be equipped with ballistic missiles of the Tayfun family (Block 1), which, not entirely coincidentally, could put a number of Israeli cities within range. During the next year the missile maker Roketsan is expected to begin serial production of the far more dangerous Tayfun Block 4, which could also be deployed on Northern Cyprus.

Turkish officials justify this historic decision by Ankara as a forced response to the accelerated militarization of the region, which is making the security situation increasingly complicated day by day. Although there are UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus — Akrotiri and Dhekelia, territories under direct British sovereignty — there is little doubt that Israel represents a growing and highly unpredictable security concern for Türkiye, given Tel Aviv's steadily closer military cooperation with Greece and with the Greek-Cypriot administration in the south – the Republic of Cyprus, which, unlike the TRNC, enjoys full international recognition and EU membership. According to the Times of Israel, the Zionist state has thereby publicly and openly challenged Turkish control over Northern Cyprus, referring to it without hesitation as an occupation. In addition to the tightening military cooperation between Tel Aviv and Nicosia — which to date represents a still relatively discreet but growing Israeli military presence on the island — Turkish media devote a great deal of attention to a more insidious long-term risk for Türkiye's security: frenetic investment activity by Israeli investors on the island. This is feared both because it could enable a slow, quiet and soft form of Jewish colonization of Cyprus and because these apparently lawful business ventures might serve as a cover for the intensive development of Israeli intelligence networks on the island.

Over the past four years, the southern, Greek part of Cyprus has seen a dramatic rise in real-estate purchases by Israeli citizens. During this period there have been more than 1,406 property transactions in the Larnaca district, 1,154 in Limassol, and 1,291 in Paphos. Worryingly — according to The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (LIGP), a multinational non-governmental organization based in the United States that has begun to take an interest in this phenomenon — Israelis have tended to buy large plots containing many buildings and well-developed infrastructure such as resorts, hotel complexes, and other tourist residences. These types of properties are ideal for creating enclosed, relatively self-sufficient communities for future settlers. Another highly indicative fact is that Israeli buyers have shown particular interest in properties near ports and military bases, which could, to some extent, prefigure their future status. Many of these large purchases are made through Cyprus's Golden Visa program, which grants foreign investors the right to reside in the Republic of Cyprus — and thus in the EU — if they spend at least €300,000 on real estate on the island. The Cypriot portal Politis analyzed the program and concluded that it opens the door for Israeli capital to penetrate the Cypriot economy and gradually subordinate it to its interests. Nevertheless, citizens of southern Cyprus do not seem especially alarmed by these deeply troubling trends. Officials in the Republic of Cyprus believe that the motives of Israeli investors and settlers are purely economic and personal, and that these investments should be viewed as a form of strengthening geopolitical ties with Israel.

Voices calling for caution about the quiet formation of Israeli enclaves that could gradually marginalize the Cypriot native population are rare. Such marginalization might be economic in the short term and, over the long run, could take on significant demographic dimensions. Only some left-wing Cypriot political parties, such as the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), have expressed open concern — The Cradle reported on this in July of this year. AKEL's secretary-general, Stefanos Stefanou, openly claims that a political strategy lies behind the mass Israeli property purchases in southern Cyprus, while denying that his views reflect xenophobia or antisemitism; he insists that the Cypriot government must work to keep Cyprus in the hands of Cypriots. Stefanou's assertions — which go so far as to speak of an "Israeli occupation" — are supported, by irrefutable on-the-ground evidence showing the formation on the island of large, physically separated and fenced Jewish communities with schools, synagogues, and other facilities. For example, a rather controversial, even notorious, yet powerful and far-reaching global Jewish organization, Chabad-Lubavitch — known for some of its more aggressive outreach methods, internal messianic disputes, and occasional bizarre incidents — established its branch on the southern part of the island in 2003 under the name Chabad of Cyprus. It operates numerous facilities and, by estimates reported in the Times of Israel, serves around 10,000 adherents. Interestingly, Chabad even maintains a presence in the Turkish part of Cyprus. The organization focuses on educational programs and on providing legal and other assistance to Jewish settlers.

The Cradle also reported that in June this year Stefanos Stefanou warned about how Israeli media have been openly reporting a "targeted policy of expansion of Israel in Cyprus." For example, the Israeli daily Haaretz has recently written about deep Mossad infiltration in Cyprus as if it were an ordinary matter. Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, once contemplated Cyprus as a possible base from which to conquer Palestine. Yet it appears that events are unfolding in the opposite direction, and the government of the Republic of Cyprus has every reason to be very concerned, even though, for some reason, it seems complacent in the jaws of the Israeli crocodile that has swum up to its shores. Admittedly, in early 2025 the Cypriot government for the first time took a step that indirectly acknowledged the seriousness of the problem — it tightened the rules for obtaining the Golden Visa — but the data show that this has not slowed Israeli investments or the formation of new Jewish enclaves.

Israeli investments are not confined to the area of southern Cyprus, as some might mistakenly assume — Israeli citizens are also buying properties en masse in northern Cyprus, especially in the Famagusta and İskele districts. It is highly telling that these — it would not be an exaggeration to call them organized — large-scale purchases are carried out not only by holders of Israeli passports but, according to Turkish sources, also by Jews who hold passports from other countries. Nearly two years ago Sabahuttin Ismail, formerly an advisor to TRNC President Rauf Denktaş and private secretary to the prime ministry, reported this to the Turkish public. Ismail also warned that three major North Cypriot companies — Afik Group, Eurocoast Group and Evergreen Developments Group — are in fact owned by Israeli investors who now also hold citizenship of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC); and because these firms were treated as domestic companies, they have been able to execute mass land purchases and participate easily in large construction and infrastructure projects. That alarmed TRNC authorities and led them in 2023 to introduce stricter limits intended to stop the mass acquisition of land and other real estate by foreigners — chiefly targeting citizens of Israel as well as Jews holding passports of other countries.

Inevitable parallels can be drawn between the organized Jewish settlement of Palestine and the present large-scale real-estate purchases in Cyprus by Israeli citizens. Modern historical research provides data that — to a greater or lesser extent and as approximate facts — are accepted by Muslim, Israeli, Western and other historians alike. Those data are drawn from official censuses, such as the Ottoman and British counts, as well as from Arab and Jewish statistics, and testify to how the path to the great Palestinian tragedy — the Al-Nakba, which today some describe as having become an open genocide — was smoothed by a strategy deliberately designed to change the ethnic composition of Palestine. When the French baron Edmond James de Rothschild, a fierce proponent of Jewish settlement in Palestine, through his enormous personal donations and other means enabled large land purchases and the arrival of the first Jewish settlers in Palestine, no one could have imagined that this would eventually give rise to a state as aggressive and as expansionist in its ambitions as Israel is today. On the eve of the First World War, Palestine had roughly 674,500 Arabs — of whom 79,700 were Christians, 37,500 Jews and 1,300 Turks. The British census of 1922 shows that the number of Arabs fell to about 662,000, while the Jewish population, thanks to intensive settlement, more than doubled to reach 83,700. According to data from 1931, the Arab population — buoyed by natural increase — rose to 851,100, of whom 91,400 were Christians, while the Jewish population once again roughly doubled through immigration and reached 174,600. At the moment Israel declared independence, having deliberately avoided clearly defining the borders of its state territory, Palestine's population stood at 1.9 million people, of whom 608,000 were Jews — 3.48 times more than in 1931. Under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine of 1947, Jews who constituted only 32% of Palestine's population were allotted as much as 56.47% of its territory — which was probably a deliberate provocation intended to prompt Arabs to reject this wholly unjust plan, thereby drawing them into a war against a newly declared, heavily armed state of Israel they could not possibly defeat. In the end, Jews — who for centuries in Palestine were on average twenty times fewer than Arabs — seized not only Palestinian land but also their future. The same could happen today to Cypriot Turks and Greeks if they do not awaken and react quickly and decisively.

Of course, Israelis are not interested only in buying real estate or in construction and infrastructure projects; they are also quietly strengthening their military footprint on Cyprus — clear evidence, many argue, that their plans amount to nothing less than taking full control of the entire island. Cunningly, Israel began building that presence by first drawing Cypriots' interest in its advanced defense systems — systems that are, unsurprisingly, fully compatible with those used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). For example, the Republic of Cyprus has purchased advanced integrated air- and missile-defense systems such as the Barak MX. Likewise, Israeli companies like Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries are actively assisting the southern Cypriot armed forces in modernizing their weaponry. For Israel, this cooperation is not only a lucrative business worth tens of millions of dollars, it also allows for a deeper military presence on the island — a footprint that is already plainly visible, though it has not yet reached the level of large sovereign bases like the British bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Instead, it is limited to operational activities through deliveries of military equipment and the use of Cypriot military facilities.

The IDF and the Cyprus National Guard hold frequent joint military exercises, including naval and air drills. One such multi-day exercise was "Agapinor 2022," which reportedly involved infantry, special forces, attack helicopters, and the navy, and allegedly simulated operations deep inside Lebanese territory. Israeli intelligence and logistical cooperation with southern Cyprus is also highly developed, and these ties have been trending upward — although, as some Haaretz reports suggest, Mossad conducts many operations on the island independently, without consulting Cypriot hosts. Some outlets have even reported that Israel's Unit 8200 — an intelligence corps unit of the IDF — opened an elite cyberwarfare center on the island. However, Israel also uses British military facilities on Cyprus. There is a wealth of analytical reporting — from media outlets such as TRT, Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Declassified UK, The Guardian, as well as alternative media, anonymous sources, independent researchers, analysts, activists, and even members of parliament — alleging that Israel has used the RAF base at Akrotiri and other British military sites on Cyprus during a number of its operations. Such hypotheses and reports have circulated in media and public debate for a long time, raised not only by left-wing and anti-imperialist activists and analysts sympathetic to Türkiye, but also in the British Parliament, where even MPs have asked questions and initiated public discussions about whether Israel uses British bases for its military operations.

These claims may not be fully proven — which is unsurprising given that they concern highly secret military operations — but it's undeniable that Israel's overall activities related to Cyprus reveal a clear and substantial interest in the island. Cyprus could serve as a strategic foothold from which Israel might project military power in the Eastern Mediterranean in a way that would threaten Türkiye more than any other security challenge the country has faced since the proclamation of the Republic on October 29, 1923. If we recall how the British, at the end of their colonial mandate in Palestine — allegedly because of the chaos surrounding their withdrawal — left a large portion of their arms and ammunition to Jewish paramilitary and terrorist organizations such as the Haganah (which later became the Israel "Defense" Forces, IDF), Irgun, Lehi, and Palmach — groups that until shortly before had been ambushing and killing British personnel — then it is not hard to imagine (nor is it an exaggerated theory) that the British could, in the foreseeable future, fairly easily hand over their sovereign military bases on Cyprus, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, to Israel.

That scenario would be a déjà vu of what we already saw in Palestine: Israel moving into territories that the United Kingdom — a colonial power in the long process of decline — abandoned because it no longer had convincing reasons to hold and defend them. It is true that, at present, Akrotiri and Dhekelia are British sovereign territory under the the 1960 Treaties — including the Treaty of Establishment and the Treaty of Guarantee — and that transferring them to Israel outright could be legally far more complicated than ending the British Mandate in Palestine — primarily because of the UK's NATO membership. Nevertheless, there are no legal obstacles in principle to granting Israel long-term use of those bases, especially since they have been used for many years by other British allies such as the United States and France.

If there really is, as many analysts claim, a covert plan by the collective West to surround Türkiye — a Muslim country that has essentially never been part of that Western world — so that, when the time comes, it could be destroyed if necessary, despite its NATO membership, then it would be convenient for the U.S. and UK to entrust that dirty work to Israel, as they have done before. In that case, the British would likely, and perhaps prudently, withdraw from their Cypriot bases before a large Israeli–Turkish confrontation — which, as some claim, is inevitable and only a matter of time — and hand them entirely to the Israelis. Such a move would literally, overnight, and dramatically change the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean in favor of Israel.

The authorities in Ankara are, of course, fully aware of Israel's intention to implement in Cyprus the same settlement and colonization policy it pursued in Palestine — through soft colonization and the consolidation of its military presence — thereby turning the island into an impregnable fortress in the eastern Mediterranean and part of Greater Israel. That is precisely why the announced dramatic reinforcement of Turkey's military presence on the island will take place. Since Türkiye cannot count on the government of the Greek Republic of Cyprus to sober up from its infatuation with lucrative Israeli investments and appreciate the threat Israel poses — and since any genuine partnership with Nicosia is therefore impossible — Ankara will be forced to take ever swifter and more energetic measures to protect its own interests and the security of Turks in Cyprus. That could destabilize Cyprus and even rekindle a Turkish–Greek military confrontation there.

The plans of an always-aggressive Israel — which has wholly broken not only with international law and the norms of the global community, but also with basic civilizational standards — anticipate an inevitable confrontation with Türkiye; for that reason Israeli strategists have decided not to wait for that clash to come to their own doorstep, but to prepare for the possibility of striking first — and to do so from Cyprus. In the Associated Press article "Turkey Wary of Israeli Threat Following Airstrike on Hamas in Qatar," by Andrew Wilks and Abby Sewel, published on September 14, 2025, the Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman, Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk, is quoted warning that Israel would continue with reckless attacks like the one in Doha, and that such behavior would drag the entire region into catastrophe. In Ankara — according to the authors of this text — there is concern that Israel could carry out similar sudden strikes against Türkiye. If that happens, it is quite clear that the United States would without question grant Israel permission for such madness — even though that action would automatically trigger NATO Article 5. To date Israel has been able to justify each of its violations of international law and the territorial sovereignty of other states to the collective West as a "fight against terrorism," so the chances that NATO would rise to defend Türkiye are approximately zero.

Ankara has long been alarmed both by Israel's continuous aggression close to its borders and by Israel's absolute impunity and the unconditional support it receives from the United States for whatever it does — including the genocide in Gaza that has now lasted two full years. Washington treats Muslim nations more than obviously as a racially inferior or semi-human group that, like Qatar, can be humiliated and punished militarily even when they enjoy the formal status of American allies and, in fact, have committed no genuine offense that could justify an Israeli military intervention. Qatar should be the final lesson for Türkiye, a decisive end to a long awakening from the Euro-Atlantic dream — not only because of Israel's insane bombardment of Doha, but even more because of the sterile and shamefully useless Final Communiqué issued by the Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit in Doha, which, instead of demonstrating Muslim strength and unity that might have given Tel Aviv pause, revealed the irreparable weaknesses of many leaders of the Islamic world and the fact that many of them are, in practice, shameless servants whom Israel keeps firmly on a leash.

Ankara will, by any means necessary, have to halt further Palestinization of Cyprus in order to fight for its very survival. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus must become Turkey's largest and most powerful base from which Ankara will dictate the rules to Israel rather than the other way around. In this life-and-death struggle with Israel, Türkiye — as we see — will for a long time be unable to rely on the strength of the Arab world or on Islamic unity, nor, for that matter, on NATO. However, if Turkish leadership takes wise and courageous steps, even covertly, Türkiye could count on states such as Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and many other nations that the collective West has failed to break. Eurasia is only beginning to rise — and that idea could provide Ankara with the foundation for creating entirely new military-political and economic strategic alliances.

[yankeedoodle]

Cyprus: Netanyahu's new Haifa
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/cyprus-netanyahus-new-haifa/

An influx of Israeli settlers and investors into Cyprus has raised alarms among Cypriots and regional observers who see echoes of Haifa's past in Larnaca's present. Beneath the real estate surge lies a deeper Israeli project to reshape the Eastern Mediterranean order – one in which Cyprus is both gateway and outpost.

Last year, reports multiplied of Israelis purchasing land and property across the Republic of Cyprus,  an EU member. Though the numbers remain modest, the pace of acquisitions has quickened. Some interpret this wave as a symptom of Israel's fading self-image as "the safest place for Jews."

Others see it as a byproduct of the shifting geopolitical architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean, in which Cyprus occupies a critical node of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's expanding maritime vision.

The new frontier

Cyprus, the Mediterranean's third-largest island, has been divided since Turkiye's 1974 invasion of the north, which established the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). About 400,000 Turkish Cypriots inhabit that section under Ankara's patronage, while the internationally recognized southern Greek Cypriot Republic – home to 1.3 million people – now finds its coastline increasingly dotted with Israeli-owned real estate.

Statistics alone obscure the larger pattern. According to the Cyprus Audit Authority, non-European buyers over the past five years have come primarily from Lebanon (16 percent), China (16 percent), Russia (14 percent), and Israel (10 percent).

Meanwhile, the Jewish community in Cyprus, around 4,000 families – roughly 15,000 people – has expanded from just a few hundred two decades ago. In 2003, there were between 300 and 400 people, rising to around 3,500 in 2018, a modest but symbolically potent growth spurred by three crises: COVID-19, Israel's judicial reform turmoil, and the war on Gaza.

Yet, this migration wave reflects a broader reversal: a rising number of Israelis leaving the country. The Knesset Research and Information Center reported that some 145,900 people emigrated between 2020 and 2024 – a trend Yedioth Ahronoth linked to the aftermath of 7 October, warning of "strategic risks."

Theodosis Pipis, a researcher at the Center for International Strategic Studies and Analyses (KEDISA) in Athens, likens the reality of Larnaca today to the city of Haifa in the 1920s in an article titled 'Israeli Expansion into EU via Cyprus.' He says that "heavy investment in coastal cities such as Haifa led to the economic control of Palestine." Pipis explains that Haifa was a sparsely populated port city similar to today's Larnaca, but after the declaration of the State of Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, Jewish settlers became the majority in Haifa:

"Historically, the case [of] Haifa could deed as a foreshadowing of what could happen to Cyprus should the economic investment ensue. A port city (akin to Larnaca), with low population density. By the time the Jewish settlers expelled Palestinians from their homes and proclaimed Palestine as the State of Israel, Jewish settlers had become the majority population in Haifa."

Israel's "backyard in Cyprus"

Beyond statistics lies a more troubling pattern. The formation of exclusive Israeli enclaves, particularly around Larnaca. Reports observe that "Locals are priced out. Infrastructure – synagogues, kosher supermarkets, private schools" are being built quickly, "The same settler-colonial template used in the West Bank now appears to be taking root in places like Pyla and Limassol."

What is of particular concern is that "Many of these settlers are not disillusioned liberals but deeply Zionist and well-resourced."

In June, spokesperson for the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), Stefanos Stefanou, said, "They are building Zionist schools, synagogues, gated enclaves ... Israel is preparing a backyard in Cyprus, and this cannot but sound the alarm for us."

The Hasidic Chabad movement, known locally as Chabad, established Cyprus's first official Jewish worship site in 2005 near Larnaca – the island's first in centuries. Today, it operates six synagogues – under the guidance of Chief Rabbi Ze'ev Raskin.

Historically, Cyprus figured in early Zionist colonization schemes. A US State Department report, 'The Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act Report: Cyprus,' records that "There were approximately 100 Jews in Cyprus in the early 20th century. After the rise of Nazism in 1933, hundreds of European Jews escaped to Cyprus, which was a British colony at the time."

The father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, himself once promoted the "Cyprus option" as leverage in negotiations for Palestine. During the Third Zionist Congress in 1899, delegate David Tricht argued that "Cyprus is the most suitable location – unattractive to Europeans, yet close to the Land of Israel."

Invitations were issued especially during the Third Zionist Congress in 1899. Tricht said:

"Jews shouldn't seek refuge in lands favorable for European settlement, as they would encounter resistance in every such country. They also won't be able to efficiently settle in tropical regions. Given these conditions, Cyprus is the most suitable location for Jewish settlement. While the island isn't a magnet for European settlers, its climate is suitable for Europeans, and notably, it is in close proximity to Israel, serving as a gateway to it."

About two months later, Herzl wrote:

"Given that the Ottoman government shows no inclination to reach an agreement with us, some want to turn to this island, which is under British control and which we could enter at any time. Until the next congress, I still have control over the situation. But if no results are in hand by then, our plans will sink, like water on the island of Cyprus."

In 1902, Herzl submitted written evidence to the British Parliamentary Committee on Alien Immigration and circulated a pamphlet outlining how Jewish migration to England and the US could be eased by promoting colonization projects, including one in Cyprus.

In the same year, he also discussed settlement proposals with British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, mentioning the island as a possible location for Jewish colonization, and that "The Muslims will move away, the Greeks will gladly sell their land at a good price and migrate to Athens or Crete."

A safe haven or strategic outpost?

The "historic Jewish presence" in Cyprus remained marginal until the early 21st century, but recent events have catalyzed a dramatic shift. The June war with Iran and escalating regional tensions last summer accelerated Israeli purchases, particularly in coastal cities.

At the height of the conflict, a Cypriot real estate platform reported that "Israelis have been actively contacting their brokers, expressing concern and impatience about the resumption of air service. Many of them say outright: 'We want to go home,' meaning Cyprus."

The platform added that "Many Israeli citizens view Cyprus as a safe and stable alternative, convenient for both temporary residence and long-term investment. For many of them, Cyprus has become a 'second home.'"

Israeli experts, meanwhile, say additionally, "some Israelis are looking for the option to spread their finances and risks."

Nevertheless, Cypriot politicians warn of opaque ownership networks. Loopholes allow companies to evade restrictions limiting non-EU nationals to two properties.

Takis Hadjigeorgiou, a former member of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, recounts that a year ago, the issue of ownership of non-Europeans, especially Israelis, was raised before the "top state official responsible for land and property issues in Cyprus."

"Yes, I've heard that too," the official said, adding, "But didn't we used to say it was the Lebanese buying us out?"

The Greek Herald has since echoed fears of "demographic engineering" and warned that if such "changes continue unchecked, they may lead to the irreversible loss of its ancient Hellenic identity."

"A wave of companies and individuals of Jewish/Israeli origin are systematically purchasing properties throughout EU-Cyprus – including the Turkish-occupied north – raising public concerns about the implications of such a practice."

Whatever the motives of Israeli migrants, they are entering a land marked by trauma and fierce nationalism. Cypriots, though welcoming tourists, remain haunted by their own partition. Many sympathize with Gaza and resent the use of British military bases for Israel's wars. Beneath polite coexistence, suspicion simmers.

The Mediterranean Arc

Chief Rabbi Raskin, head of the Rabbinical Court of Cyprus since 2003, has described Cyprus as Israel's "backdoor." According to Yonatan Brander of the Oslo Peace Research Institute (PRIO), who authored the 2022 paper 'A Strategic Friendship: Israeli Perceptions of the Israel–Cyprus Relationships,' Israeli policymakers view ties with Nicosia as "the cornerstone of a regional order that it is interested in shaping and preserving."

Two trajectories now define Israeli policy on the island. First, Netanyahu envisions Cyprus as part of a new geopolitical bloc binding Israel to Europe and the Mediterranean energy network. Nicosia's willingness to host reconstruction discussions for Gaza underscores its emerging diplomatic role. Cyprus provides geographic depth, an air–sea corridor, and an EU voice friendly to Tel Aviv's ambitions.

Second, Israel's deepening economic and institutional entrenchment risks transforming Cyprus into a subordinate dependency rather than an equal partner. Ankara has already grown wary, viewing this entente as a second Israeli frontier along its periphery, complementing its indirect border in Syria.

A study by Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center on the 12-Day Israel–Iran war's impact on the alliance between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, namely the "Mediterranean Arc" – a strategic corridor connecting the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean through the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. The alliance, it says, "anchors Israel's new maritime sphere of influence and deepens the rift with Turkey."

Since the 2010s, cooperation between Israel and Cyprus has become a geopolitical constant. Nicosia's participation in EastMed gas exploration, bolstered by support from Washington, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi, has aligned it against Ankara. Reports last year indicated that Israel delivered three shipments of Barak MX air defense systems to Cyprus – a development that Turkish media warned could destabilize the region.

Concerns deepened after the Cyprus Mail reported that "The government's failure to deny reports about the presence of Israeli security personnel at the perimeter of the Larnaca Airport fence and in the air traffic control-tower ... suggested the reports were correct and that the Republic had surrendered the security of its main airport to the security forces of another state."

Intelligence, bases, and warnings

Multiple regional sources claim that Israel now relies on Cyprus for intelligence and operational logistics in the Levant. Cooperation reportedly includes the transfer of surveillance technology, the export of spyware through Cypriot fronts, and the establishment of "joint intelligence channels for targeting Iran and the Axis of Resistance," according to Iranian academics. These networks, they argue, enable Israel to "use Cyprus as a staging ground for simulating potential future conflicts with Hezbollah and Iran, disrupting the Axis of Resistance's logistical routes, and targeting Iranian vessels near the island."

This is exactly what the late secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah warned last June, addressing the Cypriot government. He said that "Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war."

Two months later, one former senior Israeli ambassador to Cyprus told the Media Line that these warm relations "[have] not come at the expense of our other friends in the region," adding that "We believe Israel should be integrated into the region, and Cyprus can play a bridging role in this because we have equally good relations with everybody. In our mind, developing this relationship with Israel does not mean we have to sacrifice other relationships."

Netanyahu has personally cultivated this transformation. During his September 2023 visit to Nicosia, he declared that the two nations "have a wonderful friendship," claiming that "western civilization is the result of basically Greek culture and Judaism fused together." Barely a month later, Israel's devastating war on Gaza commenced following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The new Haifa
The island hosted Netanyahu's "historic" 2012 visit – the first of its kind – following reciprocal presidential exchanges in 2011.

At the time, Haaretz noted that Cypriot observers "say the key to the improving relations lies in those common interests – among them, what is referred to as "the division of the sea and its treasures" between the two countries (Lebanon is a hidden partner in this ) – and in the belief that Israel's good relations with Washington will magically rub off on the island.
Today, a parallel development unfolds in Lebanon, where the Council of Ministers is discussing a maritime border deal with Cyprus, amid warnings it could cost Lebanon around 5,000 square kilometers of maritime rights, reflecting US pressure to align East Mediterranean gas interests with Israeli priorities.

The question now, for Cypriots and the wider region, is whether these shared interests bring prosperity or peril. As new settlers plant their flags and ideology on an island long scarred by division, Cyprus risks becoming another Haifa.
.

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE_Rv8p4xdw

[yankeedoodle]

Israel's Game of Influence in the Eastern Mediterranean
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/israels-game-of-influence-in-the-eastern-mediterranean/

By Marwan Emile Toubassi (*)

The Israeli military presence in Cyprus and Greece is no longer a matter of mere security cooperation or passing exercises; it has become a policy of strategic positioning aimed at redrawing the map of influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, as endorsed by the U.S. Congress years ago. This is being achieved through a combination of military power, cross-border energy projects, and expanding real estate investments — expected to reach nearly one billion dollars this year on an individual level — in addition to cyber-intelligence programs, which have recently been linked to scandals involving several officials.

In recent years, Israel has accelerated its moves to tighten its grip on the region's geopolitical arteries, using its alliances with Athens and Nicosia as dual platforms for security, intelligence, and economic penetration, while maintaining shadowy, unofficial relations with Turkey — a NATO member — under the umbrella of the United States, which itself holds large military bases on both Turkish and Greek soil.

Recently, Israeli Barak MX air-defense systems were deployed at the Paphos air base in Cyprus, as had previously been done at the Souda base in Greece, under the banner of "defense cooperation" and "countering regional threats." In reality, this deployment grants Israel an advanced capacity to monitor the air and sea space stretching from Turkey's southern shores to the depths of the Arab East, turning Cyprus into a forward control and surveillance hub serving Israeli interests in any potential future confrontation.

At the same time, joint air and naval exercises between Israel and Greece — joined by other regional actors — have expanded notably in the Aegean Sea, granting the Israeli military broad operational flexibility amid ongoing Greek-Turkish tensions. Israel plays a delicate game on both sides of this rivalry, reassuring each while exploiting their mutual hostility to impose itself as an indispensable third party in regional security, energy, and maritime boundary arrangements across the Eastern Mediterranean.

Yet the matter goes far beyond defense and security. It extends to energy and infrastructure, including the gas and electricity corridors running from Israel to Europe via Cyprus and the Greek islands. These projects are presented as bridges of "regional cooperation" under U.S. sponsorship, but in reality, they represent a blatant violation of international maritime law and an infringement upon the sovereign rights of Palestine and Lebanon in their exclusive economic zones, as recognized by international treaties. Israel — not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, just like the United States and Turkey — seeks to use such projects to cement a new reality, transforming its colonial occupation into an economic instrument alongside its military and security role, with direct backing from Washington and financial support from the European Union.

What adds a deeper layer to this expansion is its unspoken connection to the Zionist-biblical vision of "Greater Israel," a geo-religious doctrine long used to justify expansion beyond historic Palestine. Certain maps and plans circulated for decades within Zionist religious and political circles depict Cyprus as part of the "sacred security zone" or the "promised land" stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, along the eastern Mediterranean coast. From this perspective, Israel's presence in Cyprus and Greece is not merely a contemporary strategic choice but an extension of a theological concept — a biblical ambition translated into tangible geopolitical influence, supported by the U.S.-European alliance.

—

Between the Solidarity of Peoples and the Complicity of Governments

Despite the involvement of the right-wing governments of Cyprus and Greece in these military, economic, and intelligence alliances, popular sentiment in both countries continues to express moral, humanitarian, and political solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. A decade ago, the Greek Parliament even passed a resolution — still unimplemented — to recognize the State of Palestine.

Recently, large-scale demonstrations took place across Greece — from Katakolo to Kalamata — rejecting the docking of Israeli cruise ships, such as the one that arrived last month at the Port of Piraeus. Protesters chanted, "You are not welcome in Greece; you need the police to protect you." These scenes, echoed across numerous cities and islands, affirm that the conscience of Mediterranean peoples still stands with justice and truth, despite their governments' attempts to rationalize normalization and military cooperation with a state engaged in war crimes, genocide, colonial settlement, and ethnic cleansing.

However, this popular conscience finds no reflection in official policy. In the United Nations, both Greece and Cyprus have, over the past two years, demonstrated an unusual alignment with U.S.-Israeli policy — abstaining from or voting against several resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the protection of Palestinian civilians, and accountability for Israel's violations in the occupied territories. Their leaders also met with Netanyahu following the International Criminal Court's decision, while adopting reserved positions toward resolutions recognizing the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and other related rights. This reflects a profound duality between the proclaimed European discourse of "international law" and the reality of political practice, dictated by the calculus of security and economic alliances with Israel.

—

What is unfolding in the Eastern Mediterranean today is not simply a network of military partnerships, but a reconfiguration of the region's geopolitical architecture, transcending national borders and peoples' interests. Israel — long presenting itself as a victim — is steadily transforming into a center of dominance, using technology, economy, and security to expand its influence at others' expense. The occupation is thus being renewed in a modern guise — a soft occupation financed by economic projects and energy routes, and shielded by the rhetoric of "defensive cooperation" with the U.S. and select European Mediterranean partners.

It is no exaggeration to say that Israel's expansion in Cyprus and Greece forms part of a broader U.S. strategy to reshape maritime and security dynamics from the Red Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean. Washington closely coordinates with Tel Aviv to secure a permanent presence safeguarding energy corridors and trade routes, while simultaneously encircling Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence and undermining Arab sovereignty and independence. Thus, Cyprus and Greece — alongside Turkey — have become forward outposts in a project to encircle the Arab East, while Palestine remains excluded from the equation of maritime sovereignty and resources.

What is being drawn today, especially after Gaza, is a new landscape of control, where geography, economy, and diplomacy are wielded as weapons to perpetuate and rebrand occupation in subtler yet more dangerous forms.

What the region's peoples — and foremost the Palestinians — need today is a redefinition of regional security based on justice and mutual respect for sovereignty through active and resistant diplomacy, not on the terms of Israeli-Western interests. True balance in the Eastern Mediterranean cannot be built upon the marginalization of Palestinian and Arab rights, nor on transforming the Mediterranean into a closed sea dominated by an expansionist occupying power, regardless of how its policies are wrapped in diplomatic rhetoric.

In the end, Israel — tracing its lines of influence through gas, seas, and weapons — continues, in a modern strategic form, to enact the ancient biblical myth that sees geography as divine promise and expansion as a sacred duty, rather than shared humanity and international law serving the stability and prosperity of the region's peoples.

(*) Former Ambassador of Palestine to Greece

[yankeedoodle]

How Cyprus became first European partner in 'Israel's' gas theft crime
British energy giant Energean plans a $400 million pipeline linking gas from occupied Palestinian waters to Cyprus, raising legal and ethical concerns.

Read here to connect to the links:  https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/how-cyprus-became-the-eu-s-first-partner-in--israel-s--gas-t

British energy company Energean, which operates natural gas reservoirs of  Karish, Tanin, and Katlan in the occupied Palestinian territories in favor of "Israel", is preparing to build a $400 million pipeline to transport natural gas from an offshore rig in disputed Palestinian waters to Cyprus.

According to media reports, the project requires only governmental approval, with Cypriot energy company Cyfield having already endorsed the initiative. If finalized, Cyprus would become the first European nation to import gas from Israeli-occupied maritime territory, raising questions about the project's legality and its breach of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and international law.

Critics argue that the pipeline reinforces "Israel's" control over resources in occupied waters while providing financial and strategic benefits to both "Israel" and its corporate partners.

"Our proposal offers a practical and efficient solution to reduce Cyprus's energy isolation by providing direct access to natural gas from a neighbouring source, thereby enhancing regional energy cooperation and supporting the transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy," said Energean CEO Mathias Rigas.

Not first case of complicity
This isn't the first example of Britain and Cyprus working together in support of Israeli operations. During the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the UK has reportedly used territory it still controls in Cyprus to launch surveillance missions that aid "Israel" in gathering intelligence over the Strip.

RAF Akrotiri has served as the main base for these flights, and in some periods over the past two years, Britain has conducted more such missions than "Israel" itself. This level of coordination goes beyond mere complicity; it reflects direct involvement.

DropSite News even cited senior British military sources confirming that Israeli F-35 jets are capable of receiving "technical assistance" at the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

'Israel'-Cyprus energy axis: Pipeline plans, historical controversies
"Israel's" betrothal with Cyprus is not a recent development. Zionist thinkers, including Theodore Herzl, historically regarded the island as a potential site for settlement and strategic influence. Ancient Hebrew communities were cited as historical precedents justifying a long-term presence beyond Palestine.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Jewish Colonization Association established settlements in Cyprus for Jews fleeing Russia. While small, these colonies set a precedent for expansionist ambitions, often disregarding local populations' rights.

While Cyprus historically aligned with Palestinian solidarity, hosting refugees and resisting Israeli encroachment, relations with "Israel" have warmed over the past 15 years, driven by energy and strategic interests. Critics argue that modern Israeli projects on the island, including property acquisitions and intelligence operations, reflect a continuation of expansionist policies that undermine Palestinian rights and international law.

Cyprus 'is no longer ours'
This recent sharp rise in Israeli real estate acquisitions across Cyprus has sparked growing concern over national sovereignty and affordability, with political debate intensifying after a recent congress by AKEL, Cyprus' second-largest party, where criticism of the purchases was quickly met with accusations of antisemitism, a familiar Israeli tactic to silence legitimate scrutiny.

In July 2025, Party leader Stefanos Stefanou warned of what he called a growing "national security threat," citing Israeli land purchases near sensitive sites and highlighting a coordinated effort, led by the buyers, to establish closed communities, Zionist schools, and influence over key economic sectors.

"If we don't take effective action now, one day we'll find that this country is no longer ours," he stressed, urging government intervention.

Stefanou rejected claims of xenophobia following his reference to historical parallels with how Israelis settled the land of Palestine after occupying its territories. This instantly drew backlash, with critics waving the antisemitic card, again, though supporters argue his comments reflected concerns over sovereignty, not ethnicity, and were aimed at highlighting patterns of unregulated land acquisition.

Media reports further suggest Israeli property investments in Cyprus, often in high-end "gated communities" and Mossad safehouse operations, raising ethical and legal questions.

Viral clips of 'promised land' dissected
At the time, one viral clip shows a man impersonating an ultra-Orthodox Jew, declaring in Hebrew: "God promised us Cyprus after Israel," while saying that Israelis are buying up property "non-stop". Another shows him replying to a question about "stealing homes" with the line: "If we don't steal them, someone else will," as Hava Nagila plays in the background. A third video features the same character in a prayer shawl, stating, "Cyprus was promised to us 3,500 years ago; finally, I'm home."

The statements in the viral Cyprus videos mirror patterns seen in occupied Palestine, where some settlers justify taking land and homes through historical or religious claims, often framing settlement expansion as a competitive or preemptive act, and invoking biblical or ancestral narratives to legitimize their presence on Palestinian territory.

Moreover, these posts tap into a growing online grievance that Israeli investors are driving up real estate prices and displacing locals, with one widely shared claim asserting, "Cypriots can't afford homes for themselves or their children anymore. The Israelis are buying everything."

Official statistics count about 2,500 Israelis in Cyprus, though many enter using European passports, making true figures difficult to track. Some estimates suggest the number could be as high as 15,000, with many purchasing property reportedly for investment purposes rather than residence, as per Israeli media.

Read more: Cyprus receives Israeli air defense system: Local media
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/cyprus-receives-israeli-air-defense-system--local-media

Strategic, defense cooperation
"Israel" and Cyprus have significantly deepened their strategic and military cooperation, often in close alignment with Greece. This trilateral partnership has included joint military exercises, intelligence-sharing, and advanced interoperability programs, positioning Cyprus as a key player in regional security coordination. Notably, Cyprus has hosted multiple training sessions centered on maritime security, urban warfare, and "counter-terrorism", frequently involving Israeli occupation forces.

Media reports have pointed to specific acquisitions by the Cypriot military, including Israeli-made air-defense systems and Tavor assault rifles, further signaling an expanding defense relationship.

The trilateral partnership, reinforced by US engagement, underscores "Israel's" intent to consolidate influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, creating a corridor of strategic depth extending from Cyprus to its Mediterranean borders.

Energy projects, economic ties
Offshore gas discoveries have made energy cooperation a central feature of "Israel"–Cyprus relations. These resources are seemingly recognized as strategically important for regional security and international markets.

Last week, Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen emphasized the strategic importance of such projects. "Selling gas to Cyprus will strengthen Israel's diplomatic standing in the region and among European countries, contribute to greater stability and prosperity in our area, and generate billions of shekels in revenue for the state. I intend to continue advancing the expansion of Israeli gas export targets," he said.

The Energean pipeline, which would link the Karish gas field to Cyprus, sits within contested maritime territory, once a subject of disputes between "Israel" and Lebanon. However, an agreement brokered by the United States in 2022 resolved the dispute, with "Israel" gaining rights to Karish and Lebanon's rights to the nearby Qana field being recognized.

Accepting the state's deal, especially after long declining to directly participate in any negotiations between Lebanon and "Israel" regarding the maritime border demarcation issue, Hezbollah, protecting Lebanon's oil rights and expecting foul play from "Israel", announced that it would target energy fields if Lebanon was prevented from extracting gas. It expressed readiness to intervene the minute "Israel" violated the agreement.

Gas theft ongoing
Natural gas began flowing from the Karish North field on February 22, 2024, roughly sixty miles off the northern coast of occupied Palestine, to the Energean Power, a massive floating production and storage vessel (FPSO) operated by Energean. The gas is processed onboard before being piped ashore near Haifa, while gas liquids, essentially oil, are stored for export to international markets. This operation allows "Israel" to exploit resources from disputed maritime areas, further consolidating control over offshore energy fields at Lebanon's expense.

The Karish and Karish North fields, though smaller than the Leviathan and Tamar fields, are being used strategically to secure "Israel's" energy supply, including during the genocide in Gaza when production from Tamar stalled.

Corporate involvement, controversy
Critics argue that companies such as Energean and British BP p.l.c. play a role in sustaining "Israel's" occupation. Energean has partnered with "Israel" since 2012 on projects including the Tanin Field and Karish facility. BP has expanded exploration in Palestinian maritime zones, which critics say are illegally exploited.

In July 2025, Francesca Albanese described such corporate involvement as part of the "economy of genocide," insisting that there were firms and people "that have profited from the violence, the killing, the maiming, the destruction in Gaza and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory".

"One people enriched, one people erased," she said.

"Clearly, for some, genocide is profitable," Albanese declared.

Regional geopolitics
"Israel's" energy and strategic projects have broader regional implications. Agreements to supply gas to Egypt and Cyprus not only generate revenue but also consolidate "Israel's" influence in neighboring countries with weak economies.

Palestinian authorities and rights groups maintain that Israeli energy projects in disputed waters violate Gaza's maritime zones, underscoring the intersection of strategic, economic, and human rights concerns. The Eastern Mediterranean is a seemingly complex legal and political landscape, but specific legal challenges to projects such as the Energean pipeline remain largely documented by NGOs and media outlets.

Looking ahead
The "Israel"–Cyprus axis is set to deepen, encompassing defense, energy, and economic cooperation.

For Palestinians and Lebanese, these developments are more than geopolitical maneuvering; they reflect the ongoing dispossession and resource exploitation inherent in "Israel's" occupation.

The Energean pipeline, along with the corporate and governmental actors enabling it, exemplifies the broader challenges to Palestinian and Lebanese sovereignty in the Eastern Mediterranean.

[yankeedoodle]

Cyprus Thought It Was "Just Israeli Investment" – Until it Wasn't
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/cyprus-thought-it-was-just-israeli-investment-until-it-wasnt/

Cyprus was warned. They said it couldn't happen here. Then an Israeli developer was sentenced to five years — for doing exactly what they denied.

Right, so they said it was overthinking. They said Cypriots were being dramatic. They said that concerns about Israeli land buying on the island, in light of the land and property seizures observed in Palestine were paranoid nonsense, it couldn't happen here and that anyone raising the alarm about such things just didn't understand how investment works and might perhaps just be an antisemite. And then a Cypriot court sentenced an Israeli businessman to five years in prison for developing property in the Turkish-controlled north that still legally belonged to Greek Cypriots displaced in 1974. An Israeli stealing land for development in Cyprus then is it? Suddenly the hysteria didn't look so hysterical. Suddenly the warnings didn't look so wild. The thing people were told could never happen had already happened — and it took a criminal prosecution to force everyone to say it out loud. An Israeli has been caught doing in Cyprus what they've done for years in Palestine. So how come they can be prosecuted for it in one state, but not the other then?

Right, so an Israeli caught involved in selling land that didn't belong to them, happening in Cyprus, where warnings about the scale of Israeli purchases on the island have been warned about and ignored. Well the break came in a courtroom in the end. Not in a policy paper, not in a parliamentary debate, but in the one place where the state has to stop pretending it didn't know what's going on. A Cypriot judge sentenced Israeli businessman Shimon Aykut to five years in prison for developing land in the Turkish-controlled north of Cyprus that is still legally owned by Greek Cypriots displaced in 1974. He pleaded guilty to forty charges related to unlawful development and sale of property that did not belong to him. His defence said he was acting as support for his son, who oversaw the companies involved, and that his health should be considered. The court recognised a crime of continuation though: displacement did not end in 1974; it continues wherever the ownership of that land is overridden. A prison sentence made that plain.

This was the moment the old assumption stopped working. For years, Cypriots raising concerns about the scale and nature of Israeli property purchases on the island were dismissed. They were told it was paranoia, exaggeration, or nationalist panic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39YBHGlbVrk

[yankeedoodle]

More evidence of the jews plotting against Cyprus:

The 1974 coup in Cyprus was a faithful replica of the bloody coup in Santiago, Chile, in 1973 and is considered one of the four major crimes of Henry Kissinger. At the time, Kissinger was all-powerful in Washington, holding simultaneously the offices of U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Cyprus was of interest to Kissinger not only because of the broader dynamics of the U.S.–Soviet confrontation in the Mediterranean, but also because this island—of enormous strategic importance for the control of the Mediterranean—had always attracted very intense "interest" from Israel. It was there where Zionism wanted at the beginning to install the Jewish state.

From this article:
The Voice of the Struggling Turkish Cypriots
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/the-voice-of-the-struggling-turkish-cypriots/

[abduLMaria]

Judaism

it's both a Mental Illness

AND a Crime Gang Masquerading as a Religion.

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef7iEgNRPYU

[yankeedoodle]

Greece and Cyprus becoming Israeli colonies
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/greece-and-cyprus-becoming-israeli-colonies/
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/greece-and-cyprus-becoming-israeli-colonies/


How Israeli Corporate Giants Anchored Themselves in Greece

By Tasos Kokkinidis
June 22, 2026

Over the last few years, relations between Israel and Greece have evolved far beyond politics, as capital from Israel has quickly become one of the most dynamic engines of the Southern European nation's economy, driven by a massive influx of cross-border investment.

Driven by geographical proximity, cultural affinities, and Greece's robust post-pandemic recovery, Israeli investors are no longer peripheral players—they are heavily reshaping the country's landscape across three foundational pillars: real estate and hospitality, food, beverage and agrotech, and defense and security innovation.

The true volume of Israeli capital embedded within the Greek economy remains notoriously difficult to pin down. While the official registry via the Bank of Greece logs net foreign direct investment from Israel at roughly $300 million, market analysts uniformly dismiss this figure as a vast undercount

Because major institutional funds funnel their capital through complex proxy networks, such as corporate holding companies located in Cyprus, the Netherlands, or Luxembourg, billions of euros in Israeli acquisitions are mathematically logged by central banks as "EU-originating" capital. When accounting for massive state-level infrastructure projects, including the $1.65 billion, 22-year defense contract awarded to Israel's Elbit Systems to run the International Flight Training Center for the Hellenic Air Force in Kalamata, the true scope of Israeli economic integration easily surpasses €2.5 billion ($2.85 billion).

Israeli investment on real estate and hospitality in Greece
Driven by the Golden Visa program, affordable luxury, and the desire for a geopolitical safe haven, Israeli capital in Greek real estate is estimated to surpass €500 million ($571.4 million) annually. Major Israeli hotel conglomerates have established massive footprints in Athens, Thessaloniki, and the Aegean islands, converting historic urban infrastructure into luxury serviced apartments and boutique resorts

The most aggressive player has been Brown Hotels. The Tel Aviv-based hospitality brand single-handedly initiated a real estate renaissance around Athens' historically neglected Omonia Square. By acquiring and completely renovating aging mid-century concrete blocks, Brown launched a flurry of trendsetting urban hotels, including the Brown Acropol, Dave Red, and Lighthouse Athens. The group quickly scaled outward from urban boutique spaces into sweeping beach resorts, acquiring massive multi-million-euro properties across Evia (Eretria) and the Corinthian Gulf.

Following a similar blueprint, the Fattal Hotel Group (Leonardo Hotels), one of Israel's largest hospitality conglomerates, poured hundreds of millions of euros into prime Greek properties. Notable acquisitions include the high-end NYX Esperia Palace on Athens' historic Stadiou Street, alongside aggressive luxury expansions into the peak resort markets of Crete, Rhodes, and Santorini.

The latest Israeli player in the Greek real estate is developer Pinhas "Pinni" Sarfati in conjunction with the international Magnolia Group. They aim to completely reinvent a massive 205,000-square-meter (50-acre) coastal plot in Kalamata, Peloponnese.

The master plan calls for a total built footprint of roughly 40,000 square meters (9.8 acres), featuring:
- A ultra-luxury 5-star hotel with 140 rooms
- A private residential enclave of 248 high-end luxury villas and branded residences
- Upscale dining hubs, exclusive wellness spaces, sports facilities, and commercial zones

The Golden Visa and micro-investments
On the granular level, individual Israeli buyers have emerged as the single most active group of investment buyers in the Greek residential property market. Real estate data reveals a highly calculated, return-oriented acquisition strategy dominating this segment.

Unlike institutional German or French buyers who prioritize sprawling, expensive vacation villas, Israeli buyers specialize in cash-flow liquidity. Concentrated heavily in Athens and Thessaloniki, approximately 47% of Israeli transactions sit tightly in the €100,000 to €200,000 (about $114,000-$229,000) price range, zeroing in on compact 35-to-45-square-meter (376-485 sq ft) one-bedroom units. These apartments are rapidly renovated, bundled, and fed directly into the high-yield short-term rental ecosystem or sold for rapid capital gains.

Furthermore, changes to Greece's Golden Visa thresholds have done little to dampen this appetite. Property inflows from Israel into the Greek market skyrocketed from a modest €45 million ($51 million) in 2022 to over €150 million ($171 million) annually, cementing the country's status as a premier economic safe-haven for middle- and upper-class Israelis seeking asset diversification outside the volatile Levant.

Israeli investments in Greece: Beyond real estate
Crucially, Israeli investment in Greece is no longer confined to hospitality or individual property flippers chasing short-term rental yields. In 2026, Israeli capital made a historic leap directly into physical domestic manufacturing and consumer goods, highlighting a maturation of how these funds operate.

In mid-2026, the Shamshoum family, the billionaire Israeli business dynasty behind the famous BLU energy drink empire, shook up the Greek food and beverage sector by acquiring EZA (Hellenic Brewery of Atalanti). Passing into foreign ownership via the newly minted, Glyfada-based investment entity Blu Capital Α.Ε., EZA is officially the largest independent brewery in Greece, boasting a production capacity of over 80 million liters (about 21.1 million gallons) annually.

The acquisition marked the complete exit of the Greek-managed Diorama Investment Fund (Deca Investments). For the Shamshoum family, the €4 million ($4.5 million) initial capitalization and subsequent acquisition of EZA isn't just about entering the local beer market. It is a calculated move to utilize Greece's geographical positioning as a regional production and logistics launchpad to distribute energy drinks and beverages across the wider Balkan and Southern European markets.

Defense infrastructure
The EZA acquisition is not an isolated incident but mirrors a broader, highly calculated pattern across Greece's strategic sectors. Just as the Shamshoum family utilized Greek manufacturing to anchor a regional logistics pipeline for consumer goods, Israeli corporate titans have made similar long-term plays into Greece's core sovereign infrastructure—most notably in defense and aerospace.

Direct investment: International Flight Training Center at Kalamata Air Base

The establishment of the International Flight Training Center at Kalamata Air Base represents one of the most significant, long-term bilateral defense agreements in modern Greek history. In a landmark 22-year, $1.65 billion contract signed with the Hellenic Ministry of National Defense, Israeli defense electronics giant Elbit Systems assumed the responsibility to completely modernize and physically manage the training facility for the Hellenic Air Force.

Far from a passive tech partnership, the project involves a heavy capital and infrastructure deployment: Elbit has equipped the base with an entire fleet of new Leonardo M-346 advanced jet trainers, upgraded existing T-6 training aircraft, and installed cutting-edge, interconnected flight simulators.

By embedding proprietary Israeli training methodologies and ground-control logistics directly onto Greek soil, the facility has effectively transformed Kalamata into the premier military aviation hub for Southern Europe and the wider NATO alliance, ensuring that Greek fighter pilots train on the world's most advanced synthetic environments.

Privatization and equity ownership: The ELVO takeover

The clearest example of direct investment involving the acquisition of a physical Greek defense company with Israeli capital is the privatization of ELVO (Hellenic Vehicle Industry). Based in the industrial zone of Sindos, Thessaloniki, ELVO is the historic vehicle manufacturer for the Hellenic Armed Forces, originally known for producing the Leonidas armored personnel carriers and assembly under license of Mercedes-Benz G-Class jeeps. After years of structural bankruptcy and state control, an Israeli defense consortium stepped in.

In 2021, Israel's SK Group (owners of Israel Weapon Industries – IWI) alongside Plasan Sasa Ltd, a global pioneer in composite armor for military vehicles, won the public tender to buy the company's assets. By 2025, SK Group bought out remaining partners to take full control of the facility. The Israeli consortium committed an investment package ranging between €95 million and €135 million ($108.6-154.3 million) to upgrade the manufacturing lines. The upgraded 273,000-square-meter (about 2.94 million sq ft) facility is transforming ELVO into a regional production hub, aiming to supply armored and tactical vehicles not just to the Greek military, but to the broader European and NATO markets.

The €750 million rocket artillery deal (Elbit PULS)

In April 2026, Greece and Israel finalized a massive $750 million (€650 million) G2G agreement centered on rocket artillery modernization. Under this contract, Elbit Systems is acting as the prime contractor to supply the Hellenic Armed Forces with the PULS (Precise & Universal Launching System) rocket artillery batteries.

Crucially, this is treated as an active economic partnership rather than a blind import. Per Greek industrial policy, Elbit has partnered directly with domestic Greek defense industries to manufacture key components of the system in Greece, allowing for localized technology transfer and technical know-how sharing.

Tactical armor & anti-tank infrastructure (Spike Missiles)

In 2023, Greece finalized a €370 million ($428 million) contract with Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to procure the Spike anti-tank guided missile system. The deal equips the Hellenic Army's land units, navy attack craft, and attack helicopters with Spike-NLOS precision missiles. Much like the PULS framework, the ongoing deployment involves domestic integration, requiring integration into vehicles and platforms already operated or modified within Greece.

The Upcoming Giant: The "Achilles Shield" (€3.5 Billion Air Defense)

The most monumental project currently moving through the pipeline is Athens' plan to build an anti-drone and multi-layered air defense network closely modeled after Israel's own "Iron Dome" and "David's Sling" architectures.

Referred to in defense circles as the "Achilles Shield" project, the Greek Parliament approved a massive procurement roadmap valued at €3.5 billion (about $4 billion). Negotiations are heavily underway with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to supply their Barak MX air and missile defense system, alongside counter-UAV technologies from Rafael, specifically intended to protect the Aegean islands and the northeastern Greek borders.

These projects are further solidified by the Trilateral Military Partnership, a strategic framework that provides a deeper look into why Greece, Cyprus, and Israel are rapidly deepening their defense pacts, intelligence sharing, and joint operations. Together, these nations are moving in unison to establish undeniable security and maritime dominance across the Eastern Mediterranean.

From the bars of Athens pouring EZA beer to luxury seaside villas rising on the shores of the Peloponnese, and all the way to the high-tech defense grids monitoring the Aegean, Greece's financial and strategic future is increasingly intertwined with Israeli enterprise.

[yankeedoodle]

Pro-Israel Lobby Takes Shape in Cyprus Parliament With Six MPs From Three Parties
https://www.defenddemocracy.press/pro-israel-lobby-takes-shape-in-cyprus-parliament-with-six-mps-from-three-parties/

NICOSIA –  A Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) is being established, with six lawmakers from three different political parties forming a group to work with the organization's European branch.

Israel's newly appointed ambassador to Cyprus, Suli Davidovitz, said the initiative reflected the continued growth of ties between the two countries, built not only on diplomatic relations but also on shared values, mutual security interests and a common vision for a stable and prosperous Eastern Mediterranean.
Davidovitz attended an event at the House of Representatives marking the launch of the group. Its six members are DISY MPs Giorgos Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides; ELAM MPs Soteris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos; and DIKO MPs Andreas Apostolou and Chrysis Pantelides, who will lead the group.

Also attending were former Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas, DIKO President Nikolas Papadopoulos and U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus John Breslow.

In his opening remarks, Pantelides, a DIKO MP and president of the IAF's Cyprus chapter, said the group initially comprised six of the 56 members of the Cypriot parliament, representing three of the legislature's six parties.

He described the initiative as a demonstration of their shared commitment to freedom, democracy, diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation.

Davidovitz, in her first public remarks since taking office, also acknowledged the Cypriot government's firm commitment to further deepening relations between Israel and Cyprus.

AKEL Raises Objections

In a letter to the president of the House of Representatives, AKEL parliamentary spokesman Giorgos Loukaidis raised what he described as serious concerns over the use of parliamentary premises for an event establishing a group of MPs from DISY, DIKO and ELAM in cooperation with the pro-Israel Israel Allies Foundation.

Loukaidis called on the House president to clarify how the event was approved, the group's institutional status, any commitments undertaken by its members, and the sources of its funding and support.

He also raised political questions about MPs cooperating with organizations that promote the positions and interests of third countries, including objectives that, he argued, conflict with UN resolutions and international law, principles on which the Republic of Cyprus bases its efforts to end the occupation.

[abduLMaria]

is this why Jew Ellison bought the Hawaiian island of Lanai ?

so he can provide a home for Jew Terrorists from PissraHell ?