Opinion
By H.E. Ambassador Oren Anolik, Israeli Ambassador to Cyprus
A recent open letter addressed to me and published in "Politis" makes a series of grave accusations against Israel that cannot go unanswered. Silence in the face of falsehoods only allows them to take root.
The letter accuses Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.” Such allegations are an insult to the victims of actual genocides in history. Israel’s fight is not against a people; it is against Hamas, a terrorist organization that openly calls for Israel’s destruction, hides behind civilians, hijacks innocent people from their homes and keeps them captive in horrendous, sub-human conditions for many months, and celebrates the murder of innocents.
On October 7th, Israel suffered the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust: over 1,200 murdered, hundreds taken hostage, entire families butchered. Yet this atrocity - as well as any other historical context - is absent from the letter’s narrative. One cannot claim moral authority while ignoring such crimes. Is Israeli suffering less worthy of recognition?
Most outrageous is the comparison drawn between Israel and the Nazis. This goes beyond inaccuracy; it is obscene. The Nazis sought the total extermination of the Jewish people. Israel is the nation that rose from those ashes to ensure such horror never happens again. To equate the defenders of the Jewish people with their murderers is to distort history beyond recognition and to trivialize the Holocaust itself. Such rhetoric turns history into a weapon, erasing the truth, and risks fueling the very hatred that led to the Holocaust.
The letter also implies that Israel’s representatives should remain silent or refrain from speaking publicly on these matters. Let me be clear: it is my duty as Israel’s ambassador to speak out when my country and people are slandered. Attempts to silence that voice are not only undemocratic, they betray the very principles of free expression. Dialogue is not achieved by shutting one side out; it is achieved by confronting differences openly, even when they are uncomfortable.
One of the most glaring distortions in the letter is the claim that I have called Cypriots antisemitic. This is not just a misrepresentation; it is a lie. I have never made such a claim. The only time I referred to antisemitic rhetoric in Cyprus had nothing to do with Gaza or with criticism of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians. It concerned a specific case of public accusations that singled out Jews as a potential national security threat due to real estate investments in Cyprus. Moreover, I made it explicitly clear that such rhetoric is untypical of Cyprus. To twist that into an accusation that I labeled the Cypriot people antisemitic is a deliberate distortion of fact.
Israel’s military operates under stringent codes of conduct, with legal oversight embedded in operational planning. Civilian harm is never the aim; it is the tragic result of Hamas turning neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals into human shields. While fighting an enemy that hides behind children, Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid into Gaza, often at risk to its own soldiers.
The death of uninvolved civilians saddens me deeply and must be avoided wherever possible. It is important to be clear: the suffering in Gaza can end immediately if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all hostages. It is Hamas that has rejected the mediators’ ceasefire proposals, while Israel accepted them. Every day this war continues is because Hamas chooses it to continue.
It is possible to care deeply about the plight of Palestinian civilians while also recognizing Israel’s right - and obligation - to defend itself. But doing so requires honesty, nuance, and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths also about who perpetuates this conflict and why.
This opinion was originally posted on Facebook: Israel in Cyprus
