A representative of Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s “Kahol Lavan” party raised an initiative last week to purchase islands in Greece using money from the Jewish National Fund “for the good of the Jewish people.”
Avri Steiner, a board member of a Jewish National Fund (JNF) subsidiary, proposed the purchasing Greek islands as a “safe haven” for Jewish people in emergencies.
According to Haaretz, this plan was aimed at providing “a safe haven “haven for the Jewish People in case of emergency” or a “wartime sanctuary.”
The suggestion was met with widespread opposition and deemed “preposterous” by others at the meeting -but not for the reason one would think.
“The proposal was largely rejected and criticized by colleagues, with some questioning the authorization to spend funds on foreign land.”
Steiner is a member of the board of directors of Himnuta, a JNF-owned company created after the 1967 Middle East War in order to purchase Palestinian land in the illegally occupied West Bank.
At a Himnuta board meeting on Thursday, Steiner said that the purchase of Greek islands should be explored as an option for evacuating Israeli citizens in situations of disaster or war.
According to Haaretz, the proposal was rejected by a majority of board members, who cited that it went against the aims of the JNF, which they said was not mandated to purchase land outside of Israel.
The idea was prompted by security concerns, including reports of long-range missile threats to Israel, according to reports in Maariv and Haaretz.
This is an idea for a project that arose following foreign publications that missiles could hit Israeli territory,” Steiner told Israeli daily Maariv, in relation to recent revelations that Iran has over 3,000 ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching Israel.
“The idea I came up with considered the question: what can give us an answer? What do we do in a possible scenario of threatening a large population?”
The Blue and White party official claimed that there were 40 empty islands in Greece, which Israel could look to purchase and create infrastructure.
The idea is of purchasing Greek islands is not new. In 2012, Haaretz had previously noted that a similar idea to lease or buy a Greek island for the Israeli Navy, however, this was considered and deemed unnecessary by Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
In 2012, it was reported that Greece’s Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund had identified 40 uninhabited islands and islets that could be leased for as long as 50 years, to reduce the country’s debt.
“This is so that in a time of need it can be used and people saved. This is a purchase for a humanitarian purpose,” Steiner said of his scheme, which Haaretz dubbed “surreal”.
The Israeli politician added that it would be possible to create a framework with the Greek government to later transfer sovereignty to Israel.
“It does not have to be just islands, for me the idea is to purchase vacant land to create another Iron Dome.”
The JNF is a non-profit organisation founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine for Jewish settlers, the MiddleEastEye reported.
PS So far, i was thinking it was only Turkey coveting islands in Greece 🙂
