Is Greece’s relationship with Israel becoming an embarrassment?

(Answer: Yes, but no more than everybody else’s, and not as much as Turkey’s relationship with Hamas)

Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Athens on 2 January 2020

Days after Hamas claimed the lives of an estimated 1,200 Israelis on 7 October 2024, European Union leaders paraded through Jerusalem in a show of support.

The heads of government of France, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece and Italy all took turns standing beside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“In such difficult times there is only one place we can be: at Israel’s side,” said German chancellor Olaf Scholz. “I come here not just as an ally but as a true friend,” Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 23.

“Greece from the very first moment supported the right of Israel to defend itself in line with international law,” he said.

Unlike some other European leaders, Mitsotakis did not also pay a courtesy visit to Abu Abbas, leader of the Fatah Palestinian movement, a surprising omission, given Greece’s historic support of the Palestinians.

When Netanyahu’s predecessor, Menachem Begin, invaded Lebanon to destroy the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1982, Greek ships spirited the organisation’s leader, Yasser Arafat, to safety in Athens.

Back then, expatriate Palestinians frequently held demonstrations on the streets of Athens with Greek left-wing party support, to trumpet their cause on European soil.

The support for Palestinians wasn’t merely sentimental. Greek-owned tankers carry a third of the world’s crude oil, and that trade dictated good relations with the Arab world for decades.