Tslil and Binyamin, Israeli-born October 7 survivors, in front of an Athens synagogue on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack, October 7, 2024. PETROS GIANNAKOURIS / AP“Reality has become chaotic. We chose to leave so that our children could have a normal life,” said Haran Anjioni, who decided to settle on the Greek island of Crete with his wife and four children a few weeks ago. On October 7, 2023, the family was living on a kibbutz in northern Israel, just 7 kilometers from the border with Lebanon. The shock of the brutal Hamas attack, “post-October 7 nightmares” and the fear of a similar Hezbollah attack prompted the Anjionis to move the very next day to another kibbutz in central Israel.
“Over the past year, we’ve moved more than five times. When the lease on our last house came to an end, we got the idea of taking the whole family to Crete. But this time, not just for a simple vacation,” he said. A lover of Greece, where he has already spent many vacations, Anjioni said that the country is “a perfect choice for Israelis.” “The Mediterranean climate and nature are the same as those we know. (…) The Greeks are incredibly welcoming. The country is less than two hours flight from Tel Aviv, and the cost of living is reasonable.”
Not all Israelis are so enthusiastic. Naomi, a single woman who did not wish to give her last name, spent four months in Athens before eventually returning to live in Israel. Her experience in a country that was not her own did not bring her the expected relief. “I’ve never considered myself a refugee. In this war, there are the truly displaced: those who were forced to leave their homes in the north and near the Gaza Strip, and then, of course, all the Palestinian refugees. But I wasn’t a tourist, either, and I felt misunderstood by the locals. I was traumatized, like all Israelis. I have lost relatives, I have seen rockets flying over my head,” she said, over the phone. Athens had been, for her, a choice by default. “The world after October 7 didn’t seem very welcoming to Israelis, and the destination options were ultimately quite limited. Many flights were canceled and we didn’t want to go to countries where anti-Semitic attacks were on the rise, either,” she added.
30,000 departures since November 2023
According to Israel’s Channel 12, around 30,000 Israelis left the country permanently between November 2023 and March 2024, a 14% increase compared to the previous year over the same period. The exact number of Israelis who arrived in Greece after October 7, 2023, is difficult to assess. But the Greek government has decided to make it easier for Israeli nationals to extend their tourist visas from 90 to 180 days. The Israeli embassy has informally confirmed an increase in the number of Israelis living in Greece. For its part, the Greek Ministry of Migration claims that the number of “golden visas” issued to Israelis – a program that allows foreigners who invest at least €250,000 in real estate to obtain a five-year residence permit – has increased by around 70% since October 7, 2023.
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