Is Greece about to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital?

Not hard to understand why Greece will eventually move its embassy to Jerusalem. The historical relationship between Greeks and Jews goes back at least to the days of Alexander the Great. If you lived in what is now Israel in Classical times, and especially if you were a merchant, obtaining a reasonable command of Koine Greek was absolutely essential for business success. Jesus Himself undoubtedly had at least some knowledge of Greek in addition to His native Aramaic. The better to reach a wider audience for his preaching.

One member of NATO attacking another? Sure, if it's Turkey. A friendly gesture by Greece toward Israel at this moment, would be a good strategic move by Greece, which is otherwise not known for wise foreign policy, which is why the proposal, alas, is by the opposition. One can hope.

The Greek-Israeli relationship will go deeper than economic and military cooperation, relative to that of Turskish-Israeli, because it involves their citizen's approval based on shared cultural contributions and historical achievements. On the contrary, Turkish-Israeli relationship wasn't a bilateral one, mostly described as triangulal,(Turkey-US-Israel), supported predominantly by Turkish high-level military elite, taking advantage of Israeli transfer of military technology & exports. Turkey and Israel were focused on military collaboration and primarily benefitted the Turkish military, which was effectively running the country. Proof revealed, when AKP came to power since 2009, well in advance before Navi-Marmara incident, its leadership harsh anti-Israeli rhetoric was thus well received by the Turkish populace. On the other side, Greek-Israeli relationship, has flourished under a remarkable variety of political regimes, also enjoys broad support among the Greek public, based on common values of Democratic principles, religious tolerance & sex equality.

A factor not mentioned in the article is the ascendancy of Prince bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. He leads the entire Arabian Peninsula and the Emirates except Qatar. Sands in the Middle East are slowly shifting indicating shift in view of Israel. No one knows how strong the shift will be or anything about its permanency, but it is having some impact on international relations with Israel.

We surely can praise Voridis and Georgiadis for showing support for Jerusalem as capital, and the people of Israel in general. In Greece there is not so much anti-semitism. There is an issue however with the Greek leftist political parties who have always been in favor of the recognition of a Palestinian Arab state and are thus not friendly enough towards Israel. Voridis and Georgiadis are regarded as far-right politicians by the majority of the Greek Left, even the more moderate Centrists. Agreeing with Trump or Netanyahu about Jerusalem is regarded as a "fascist" or "imperialist" behavior by the Left, here in Greece, the same old story as in all the other countries of the Western World.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. (I apologize for the pun). Seriously, endemic anti-Semitism has infected Greece for many decades, both in its public utterances and opinions, and in its government actions and statements. Now that Turkey has shown its Islamic lunacy, now, suddenly, Greece appears more reasonably inclined toward a Israel, in a tentative manner, during a campaign. It's a little too soon to toast friendship, too soon to toast rational behavior. Let's wait awhile, let's see where this leads, if anywhere, before we open the bottle of Ouzo, and get rid of the bitter bottle of Arak.

When the Islamists have taken control of an area they have consistently made it a high priority to destroy any area or thing that they view as having a connection to any religion, even ancient religions that are no longer practiced.

How long do you think that the holiest shrines of the Christian And Jewish Worlds would last under Islamist Rule?

In my opinion, they would do everything within their power to completely obliterate as much of the religious heritage of much of the world as quickly as possible, even at the cost of destroying half the city in the process.

Until Islam goes through a reformation such as Christianity went through they will be stuck in a 7th century tribal mindset and worldview. The only way to rationally deal with them is on that basis and with that understanding.

This will all be well and good, depending on what the Turks have up their sleeve. Last I heard, they were laying plans to take over Greece, which would place the entire Mediterranean area into all out war...If the Turks do nothing,(hopefully), perhaps the Greeks can do something with Israel's to help bail them out of the debt they are in.

We (Israel) will take all the help we can get.

If only the other leaders in the E.U. adopted this sensible approach.

78% of "Palestine" is actually the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Palestine hasn't existed since the British left the area they themselves named as Palestine. I think the five of six hundred years the area was occupied by the Ottomans the area was called a "sanjat" or district of administration. Yet facts are funny today. People have to "believe" them. Regardless of the documentation.

Given the suffering of the Greeks at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire under which both they and the Jewish population of Palestine - (the geographical area, not the fake "country") - suffered, and who still occupy and threaten Greek territory today, then it would be entirely fitting for the Greeks and the Israelis to bond over the Muslim threat to both of them.

Encouraging for the region.

Hopefully everyone who decides to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the ancient homeland of the Jews, will realize and experience that it will be one of the best decisions made for their country... - that the God of Abraham, Isak and Jacob/Israel" will keep His promises and bless those that bless them. i.e. the Jews. - and to be blessed by God - is what everyone would want to dream of. To put yourself in a position that makes you blessed by God, is the wisest thing you can do - ever!

It is encouraging that Greece, the birthplace of much of Western Civilization, and which has given the world so much good, may take this stance on behalf of not only Israel, but many other peoples of the world.

As it faces many of the dangers and threats current in today's complicated international relationships, Greece is showing the courage that has been its hallmark for uncounted centuries.

Jerusalem was of course the capital of the Jewish people centuries before any Western capital existed, eg London, Paris or Berlin--and 1600 yaers before Islam was created. By what right do the governments of these upstart cities purport to deny Israel's right to designate its capital city? Israel is the only country in the world whose choice of capital city is rejected by the self-styled "international community". Maybe Israel should consider moving its German embassy to Bonn or its British embassy to Winchester, one of England's former capitals!

This is a welcome development. However, some clarification is needed to the statement that "During his term as prime minister, from 2012 to 2015, Samaras worked hard to enhance the Greece-Israel relationship, which had been stagnant for decades." The current golden age of Greece-Israel relations began with a chance meeting in a Moscow restaurant in February 2010 between Netanyahu and the then Greek PM, George Papandreou (PASOK), who became instant friends. Samaras welcomed the development and continued it when he became PM. Also Tsipras has a warm relationship with Netanyahu. So moving the Greek Embassy to Jerusalem will be acceptable to a broad range of the Greek political spectrum and all the more acceptable the more Erdogan picks quarrels with Netanyahu and Trump. Indeed, this golden age - albeit waiting to happen - is very much the work of Netanyahu, like the recent diplomatic improvements in Africa and Asia.

It's encouraging and good news that many Greeks are in favor of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Having the spine and moral stamina to assert that should tweak the Islamic supremacy nose.

Can't wait to see the reaction of the fascist dictator in Turkey. Priceless.

Therein lies the main problem. Where the Israelis are tolerant and allow people of all faiths to practise their beliefs, when it comes to Islam, they are by far the most intolerant of all and will not recognise any other faith but Islam! Pathetic, immoral, and completely uncivilised attitude towards others. The Greeks have now recognised the city of Jerusalem as the Jewish capital and that follows the great decision by Donald Trump to do so. With this happening, perhaps more European leaders will also do the same. But with the current intake of Muslim immigrants by Frau Merkel's Germany, I very much doubt that she will hurry to recognise the true capital of Israel, after all, at a point in history both Germany and Muslim countries had an enormous hatred of Jews, and Mrs Merkel has bent over backwards to allow Muslims into her country, supposedly in the hope that they will eventually become productive and valued citizens. She couldn't have been more wrong.
Let's hope that the leaders of Eastern Europe will also recognise Jerusalem as the capital and show a resistance to the anti-Israeli approach taken by some others in Europe.
When it comes to the crunch, European leaders would be best guided to supporting the new capital and to stop this blatant pandering to Islam. Stand up to the threats from Muslims, grow a pair, and consider the future of the people and not the feelings of the Muslims who couldn't give a damn for us or our children, they just want to Islamise the world and introduce the perverted Sharia law to all corners of this wonderful earth in which we live. Stand with Israel, stand against Islam!

One thing they could have added is that even when Muslims held the city of Yeroushalaiim for hundreds of years they never even once made it a capital of anything. Certainly not of Palestine they all ignored. But today the hated Jews have it as their capital so they want it as the capital of "Palestine."

I believe that in order to have a correct position, you need to know the historical truth. It was nice that the Greek party leaders knew it. The Greeks are able to cite a great quote: "It's almost funny to discuss whether Jerusalem is a Jewish city or not." [It] was founded by the Jews ... in ancient times. You can read Flavius Josephus or read Diodorus Sicily and see the references to the city of Jerusalem, where there was the High Priest of Solomon's Temple and that it was the city of the Jews. This is the reality.