Friday, March 9, 2018

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

by Maria Polizoidou • March 9, 2018 at 5:00 am

Two distinguished members of Greece's parliament, whose party has a good chance of defeating the current leadership, are breathing new life into the political system and reinvigorating crucial partnerships with Israel and the United States.
"The positions of the Palestinians are maximalist and dangerous, since they actually propose the Islamization of the city. Palestinian Islamist organizations, like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have repeatedly launched threats against the non-Muslim population of Jerusalem. Islamists visualize a Jerusalem without churches and synagogues. On the other hand, the Israeli Knesset has recognized since 1980 the multi-religious character of Jerusalem and is committed to the unimpeded access of all believers to places of worship..." — MP Makis Voridis, a former minister from the New Democracy party, writing in the Greek daily Kathimerini.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with then Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on October 8, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO via Getty Images)

On his return from a recent two-day trip to Israel -- where he met with high-level officials -- Adonis Georgiadis, the vice president of Greece's opposition party, New Democracy, declared his support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

In an interview with Skai Radio on March 7, Georgiadis called it "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 Diodoros Siceliotis 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."

When challenged by the interviewer, who said, "But as time went by, many things happened in the city's history," Georgiadis, a historian, replied: