In the minds of many here in Greece and across Europe, the State
of Israel was and is considered the state of the Jews. The Greek
public does not clearly distinguish between Israelis and Jews,
and even government officials often refer to all Israelis as
Jews in their speeches, although not maliciously. There are
Greeks who believe that anything done by Israel, whether
positive or negative, is done in the name of all Jews. During
the first two decades of Israel’s independence, when it made
wonderful progress agriculturally, economically and even
militarily — such as the stunning success of the Six-Day War in
1967 — Jews were highly admired by Greeks. Conversely, recent
Israeli military operations — particularly since the outbreak of
the intifada in September 2000 — have elicited the opposite
response. Just as we must explain to the Greek — and, indeed,
the entire European — public the many nuances of Israeli and
Jewish opinion, it is also incumbent upon world Jewry to
understand the complexities of continental