An activist journalist Dimitri Lascaris in his recent report revealed a considerable surge of Israelis traveling to Cyprus Island to “buy anything in sight” following the recent war in Gaza, and the escalating crisis in the region.
“What I found were secretive, luxurious resorts that cater to and pamper affluent Israelis” while Tel Aviv “inflicts a genocide on the Palestinian people,” said Lascaris in his report.
Lascaris highlighted that the connection between Zionism and Cyprus dates back nearly to the inception of the Zionist movement. At the Third Zionist Congress in 1899, David Trietsch presented the notion that the Jewish state envisioned by Theodor Herzl could first be established in Cyprus.
“Jews shouldn’t seek refuge in lands favorable for European settlement, as they would encounter resistance in every such country. They also won’t be able to efficiently settle in tropical regions. Given these conditions, Cyprus is the most suitable location for Jewish settlement. While the island isn’t a magnet for European settlers, its climate is suitable for Europeans, and notably, it is in close proximity to Israel, serving as a gateway to it,” Trietsch said.
Though the proposal for the establishment of a Jewish state in Cyprus was officially removed from the Zionist agenda, Herzl did not forget it. “We would gather on the island, and one day travel to the Land of Israel and reclaim it by force, just as it was taken from us,” Herzel had said.
In 2018, the Jewish population of Cyprus was estimated at around 6,500, however in April 2024, the number was significantly increased, according to Israel’s KAN public news channel indicating that the Israeli community alone has reached 12,000.
The current monthly growth rate is around 250 to 300 individuals, meaning more than 3,000 Israelis annually relocate to Cyprus.
The report outlines three distinct waves of Israeli migration to the island: the first during the COVID pandemic, the second triggered by political turmoil in Israel related to so-called judicial reforms in 2023, and the third occurring in late 2023 to early 2024 in the aftermath of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
MA/Press TV