“If the Arabs put their weapons down, then there will be no war- if the Israelis put their weapons down, then there will be no Israel”. This saying is attributed to Golda Meir, Israel’s first female Prime Minister, when the Jewish state was surrounded by the Arab states that pursued its destruction, with a series of wars against it, since the first day of its independence, on May 14^th 1948.

Unfortunately, the same phrase continues to be relevant in 2021. It could be seen as a communication ploy by the Israelis in order to gain the sympathy of the public. But let us see if this applies in the field of the long-running confrontation, which today focuses on the conflict between Israel and Hamas on its southern border and with Hezbollah and Syria in the north.

If Hamas was to abandon the attrition war against Israel, does anyone doubt that the blockade of the Gaza Strip would have been lifted the very next day? Israel does not have any territorial claims over this strip of land, on the contrary Israel pulled out in 2005, hoping that the Palestinian Authority would have been able to take control of the region and isolate the Islamic movements of Hamas and Jihad. The disarmament of Gaza would be a breath of fresh air for its afflicted population, a new page of growth and prosperity, a new road that would eventually lead to its union with the West Bank of the Jordan River, and in the establishment of a Palestinian state next to the State of Israel with secure borders. Free distribution and movement of people and goods, investments and improvement of the living standards, the end of the bloodshed – this is what the disarmament of Gaza would mean.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece expresses its solidarity towards the people of Israel, under attack for the past 48 hours, by rocket bombardments launched by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

The choice of the terrorist organizations to escalate violence on Jerusalem Day, through attacks against civilian population in Israel, is characteristic of the practices they use in order to reach their target, which is nothing less than the annihilation of the Jewish state from the world map.

The State of Israel, as any other country in the world in case of relevant attacks against its population, has the undisputed and legal right to defend its boarders and the safety of its citizens against sworn enemies that do not recognize even its right to exist.

We stand side by side with the people of Israel attacked yet one more time by the forces of terror and intolerance, and we convey the condolences of the Greek Jewry to the families of the victims along with our wishes for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

Athens, May 12, 2021
The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece