The French newspaper La Croix in an article entitled “Away from the “Promised Land” and war: the Israelis settling in Greece” and subtitled “As of 7 October 2023, the number of Israelis settling in Greece has increased significantly”, estimates that about 10.000 of the 80,000 who have left Israel have chosen Greece as their new place of residence.

The estimate is that approximately 10,000 of the 80,000 who have left Israel have chosen Greece as their new place of residence.

According to the paper, “some of these Israelis are moving for business reasons, while others are mainly seeking to escape a society where domestic violence has become ‘structural’.”

In particular, the French newspaper cites as an example the case of a wealthy Israeli woman who is a business consultant and decided to leave Tel Aviv immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Maintaining strong opposition to the Netanyahu government, she took her two young children with her and has not returned since. “Israel is no longer a democracy. This war (with Gaza) is unjust; it has no legitimacy. And we started it. By continuing in this way, we have been feeding for years – maybe even decades – a hatred and war against Israel,” she tells the French newspaper, noting that breaking the shackles of censorship that dominate Israeli society is not easy. “There, they hate me when I talk like this, but someone has to say it. Today it’s simple: either you think like me or you’re the enemy,” he explains.

The French newspaper also points out that as of October 7, Greece is one of the main destinations for Israelis in Europe. “Just a two-hour flight from their home country, many say they ‘feel at home’ here: the climate, the food, the cost of living, the positive attitude of the Greek authorities who facilitate visa extensions, and the business prosperity are just some of the reasons for settling here. As well as security concerns and opposition to Netanyahu’s policies,” La Croix underlines.