Athens, We Have a Problem: New Greek Left Solidifies Anti-Israel Stance

Weeks after Hamas’s murderous October 7 rampage Jerusalem’s ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, spoke to a packed audience at Athens about the nature of Hamas and the ongoing threat the terrorist group poses to regional stability. One individual conspicuously absent from the prestigious Athens Security Forum was the newish head of Greece’s left-wing Syriza opposition party, Stefanos Kasselakis. On a Greek television station last week Mr. Kasselakis, who is leveraging his role as leader of Greece’s official opposition to drum up visibility ahead of European parliamentary elections in June, said that only “a part” of Hamas carries out terrorist acts, drawing a swift rebuke from Mr. Katz. “Claiming that [only] part of Hamas carries out terrorist acts is like claiming that only part of ISIS are terrorists, Mr. Katz stated, adding that “Hamas is a genocidal, murderous terrorist organization from its top echelons to its base. All are responsible for the horrific massacre in Israel on October 7th.” “If one is truly interested in a better future for the region, both for Israel and for the Palestinians, Hamas should not and cannot be a part of it.”Mr. Kasselakis, however, apparently did not get that memo or chose to ignore it. On Tuesday he will wrap up a two-day trip to the West Bank. The visit follows calls by Syriza as well as the Greek socialist party, Pasok, and the Greek Communist Party to recognize “Palestine” as a state — as also recently called for by Spain, Ireland, and Norway.Greece’s center-right New Democracy party, led by Prime Minister Mitsotakis, is having none of this latest progressivist dance macabre. Earlier this month the government said it would deport nine foreign students who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration that turned violent, and will not tolerate university protests against Israel. In the meantime, Mr. Mitsotakis said that Hamas can be counted on to not only exploit the demand for recognition of a Palestinian state but that it would let the terrorists claim that such recognition was only made possible by carrying out the October 7 attacks.Mr. Kasselakis, though, is the sworn nemesis of Mr. Mitsotakis, and the right’s disapprobation of following the latest European fashion — raking Israel over the coals for the shocking act of defending itself — seemingly has no impact on his high stakes political agenda. Speaking to a Greek radio station from Ramallah on Monday, Mr. Kasselakis said that “what is happening is not something that we, as the Western world, Europe, Greece can tolerate. He said that “I have seen many photos and heard from the authorities here what they are dealing with” and that “75 percent of Gaza has been destroyed.” Invoking the past, or rather a snippet of it, he added that “We must take a history lesson from the friendship between the Greek people and the Palestinian people, starting with [former Greek prime minister] Andreas Papandreou and Yasser Arafat.” Evoking the future, or rather his blurred vision of it, he said that “Europe must have a point of view — it cannot follow America’s example in all its negotiations with Israel and Palestine and the Arab countries.”That simplistic approach — a blend of traditional progressivist antipathy to America and lament for Europe’s paucity of political muscle in the international arena — echoes that of an entire flank of the European left-wing political establishment. Just two days after the October 7 attacks a former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, made comments on social media attempting to equate Israel with an “apartheid” state. Mr. Varoufakis served under the previous Syriza administration. Mr. Kasselakis, a 36-year-old ex-trader with Goldman Sachs who as the Guardian has reported “comes from the US with a CV that no self-respecting leftist could endorse,” notably volunteered on Joe Biden’s 2008 election campaign. Last November, on the same day that Mr. Mitsotakis was navigating a political maelstrom at London over the fate of the Elgin marbles, Mr. Kasselakis was meeting with the American ambassador to Greece, George Tsounis, at Athens. Mr. Tsounis is a Biden appointee.With his telegenic looks and a hyperactive social media presence, Mr. Kasselakis has attempted to position himself as a youthful alternative to the establishment, but a somewhat hackneyed posturing on regional issues like the Middle East makes him look like just another member of the European left’s rank and file. It is a perilous moment, though, in which the weight of collective anti-Israel rhetoric does not work in Jerusalem’s favor. As Mr. Kasselakis continued his visit at and around Ramallah, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, declared that “From now on I will never say Israel, I will say ‘the Netanyahu government,’ because it’s this government who is making the decisions that could kill the Palestinian Authority.”Mr. Kasselakis met with the executive secretary of the PLO and Monday was also scheduled to make stops at Bethlehem and Jerusalem before his departure. Mr. Mitsotakis, for his part, has a strong working relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu — and defense cooperation between Greece and Israel has rarely been more robust. But the anti-Israel drift of the left side of the Greek political spectrum is both concerning and in keeping with the growing trend of more European states considering recognition of a Palestinian state.Speaking from Corfu on Monday, Mr. Katz said that Mr. Kasselakis “would be welcome in Israel. But maybe that wasn’t his purpose.” He added that “I would hope that in addition to sympathizing with the Palestinians, the SYRIZA leader, while in Ramallah, would condemn the atrocities of Hamas [and] call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.”

Athens, We Have a Problem: New Greek Left Solidifies Anti-Israel Stance

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