A representative from Israel is looking to buy a number of small Greek islands to serve as a safe haven for Jewish people, according to the newspaper Haaretz.
Avri Steiner, a representative of the centrist party Kahol Lavan, proposed that money from the Jewish National Fund be used to purchase islands in Greece to be used “to create a haven for the Jewish People in case of emergency, as a place for Jewish refugees in times of war,” according to Haaretz.
Greece is home to more than 2,000 islands, but only 170 of them are inhabited.
Steiner sits on the board of directors of the company Himnuta, which is owned by the Jewish National Fund; he was appointed to the board by Benny Gantz, the current Defense Minister of Israel.
Proposal for Israel to purchase Greek islands rejected
The unique proposal was met with criticism and most present were opposed to it. Many people at the meeting even found the proposal to be preposterous. Steiner had previously met with a number of board members to discuss the plan in private, according to Haaretz.
There seemed to be some confusion about the aim of the proposal, as of course the state of Israel itself was created to be a haven for Jewish people. Haaretz states that board members believed Steiner pitched the plan in case Israel was destroyed or attacked heavily in the future.
Furthermore, those present at the meeting found the proposal to be very vague, as Steiner did not specify which islands in Greece would be purchased under the plan.
A person present at the meeting told Haaretz that Steiner was presented with the rules of JNF and Himnuta, which state that they can’t “purchase land outside of Israel. His response was: ‘So what, we’ll change the charter.’”
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA
