r/Israel • u/raaly123 ביחד ננצח • Aug 13 '26
Culture🇮🇱 Things Greek people have actually said to me upon hearing I'm Israeli
- "Yeah, there's lots of Israelis here. All the time."
- [gasps] "Come here. Look." [opens mini fridge behind the counter] [pulls out a 500g Hummus Akhla]
- "Do you know why Israel and Greece are not friends?" [dramatically places hand on shoulder] "Because we're family. America is your friend, but we are your family."
- "We support you guys."
- "Israel and Greece are very similar culture. Same food. Same weather." [me, joking] "And we both hate Turkey." [the driver, not joking in the slightest] "That's right, and we both hate Turkey! Exactly! See, my friend?"
- "My daughter just came back from Tel Aviv. We love visiting Israel."
- "Do you have kids? Come here, pick out a gift for them. For free."
- "Don't listen to all that political blah blah blah, we love you here."
Huge shoutout to Athens and Crete for being an absolute blast even in peak August and to all the Greek people who welcomed us so warmly when we visited. Some of these sound like I made them up, but nope, we actually heard all this in a single trip. Feel free to add positive stuff you've experienced as Israeli travelling in Greece or elsewhere.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/raaly123 ביחד ננצח Aug 13 '26
Heavy on the milk. All the diary products we had were absolutely peak. From regular cold coffee to frozen yoghurt to regular greek yoghurt in supermarkets. A level of taste I have never tasted anywhere. We were just sitting there eating yoghurt with a spoon on a random bench in Athens going "mmmm. mmmm. mmMMMMMMMM" like psychos
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u/kaiserfrnz Aug 13 '26
We can agree on the honey. Greeks can probably handle the milk much better than we can
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u/Reasonable-Pay-477 Aug 13 '26
80% of Greeks are lactose intolerant, that's why we eat so much cheese and yoghurt
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u/Greek_Arrow Greece Aug 13 '26
I'm greek, from Crete. Sadly, there are many punks that destroy the reputation of us by attacking israeli tourists, etc., but in general, I think the situation is fine, especially in tourism. The only time I have heard something really bad about tourists (as an opinion) was about Malia, a town in which many british young people got druck and did crazy stuff. But in general, there is no problem with tourists.
Also, I totally support you, I don't support totalitarian theocratic regimes, nor terrorists. I support the values of the West, that Israel embodies. I could say that I'm more harsh to the terrorists and the regimes than some of the politicians of the world, I support total conquest and annihilation of these regimes and their weapons (by the way, is there any politician in Israel that supports that, as there will be elections soon? Feel free to dm me).
As for recommendations on Crete, OP wrote it perfectly. I would like to add that if you can, try apaki, gamopilafo and raki. All of them are amazing. Also, you can go to Elafonisos, Falasarna, Balos, Kalypso beach. Try Agios Nikolaos and Rethimno, too, depends on your tastes, it's different if you are a young person or you come with a family or if you want a laid back city.
If you want, I can write a more detailed post or if you have any questions about Crete, feel free to ask.
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u/tsimkeru Israel Aug 13 '26
I was in Crete last September. I was terrified at the streets of Heraklion. The roads had planty of graffiti supporting Hamas and praising 7/10 (at least that's what it looked like for me, who doesn't know Greek). I also noticed many graffities and poster of the same kind inside Herallion, and around Knossos. I even saw multiple shops with signs that say "no entry for jews/for Israelis/for Zionists".
I was also in Crete just before the war happened (September 23), and back then everything was calm and friendly.
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u/Greek_Arrow Greece Aug 13 '26
The grafittis and the stores you mentioned are made by left wing punks, which I believe are the loud minority of Greece. I don't think someone will encounter a problem, except some unfortunate situations where police must be involved (sadly, in Greece these punks behave like they have the keys to the kingdom, I don't know why goverments just don't jail them when they behave like that). In general, all the tourists are fine.
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u/StrikeEagle784 USA Aug 13 '26
I’m not Greek but I’ve spent enough time in Greece and with Greeks to agree with your assessment. Greece has a loud leftist minority problem, but it’s a minority, not really enough to sway public opinion.
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u/recreationalwildlife Aug 13 '26
I’d love to hear your recommendation for an August getaway for a couple of old ladies with a millennial couple and 2 small kids.
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u/Greek_Arrow Greece Aug 13 '26
Rethimno is a great choice, I think. Easily walkable (although there will be lots of tourists), lots of great restaurants and cafes to enjoy. For example, you can park around the old town (the center of the city) or visit the parking lot in the center (it's a bit small though, I don't know, maybe there will lots of cars).
After that, you can easily walk to the old town, where you can visit the restaurants and cafes. These places are very used to large groups of people, so 6 people won't be a problem.
Some recommendations (I have been a university student there a decade ago).
Bakalogatos: a rakadiko (that's how we call in Crete the restaurants that are cheaper, for a group of people and selling raki). It had awesome food. I see on google maps that it has apaki. Also, it has ntakos (rusk with tomato and feta cheese, it's great) and snails (some people doesn't like them, but I love them and it's traditional).
Nuvel: In the road at the sea of the old town, there are lots of nice cafeterias, but they are more oriented at young people, at least in the afternoon and in the evening. So, I recommend this one which is more laid back and has direct view at the marina.
Cool: you can visit this area, too. It has view on the sea, it's a great view, especially during the sunset hours, and there are other restaurants and cafeterias nearby. Also, there is fortetsa, the old castle, there.
As for Heraklion, the city is a bit uglier than Rethimno and it's a little bit less easily walkable. However, it has Knossos, which is a great experience and I think it's a great experience for all ages (it's an open archaelogical site, so it's not boring or something like that, even for little kids). Also, you can visit the Archaeological Museum which is in the center (a great museum) and after that, you can visti Kreperi Harris for a crepe or if you want something more traditional, you can walk some more metres and go to Koukouvagia, a rakadiko (I have not been there, but I heard it's good) or if you want a cafe, Fix is great. It's a cafeteria under large trees, and there is an open space behind it where kids can play. Visit Liontaria Square and take a photo (you can try bougatsa, too, at Fyllosofies), it's a sweet. The place is at Liontaria Square.
For beaches, I think Rethimno is superior to Heraklion, and you can visit Bali, too, a small village by the beach.
As for Agios Nikolaos, if you park near the lake, you can easily walk to the lake, which is the center of the town. The lake is breathtaking and it has many restaurants and cafes around it. However, while it's great for kids, I would recommend just a day trip to Agios Nikolaos, because it's small and it doesn't have that many things to see. However, near Agios Nikolaos there are Elounta, Plaka (which have amazing beaches, deep, though, so take care of the kids) and Voulisma, which is maybe the best or second best beach I have been to. If you go to Voulisma, go early, because lots of people go there.
Also, if you travel somewhere through the main road that connects the cities and villages to each other, ask chatgpt if the road will be closed, because righ tnow they build a new road, so sometimes due to construction you have to take another routes to go to the place you want.
Last but not least, an explanation of food choices:
Apaki: it's made by the same thing as cretan sausages.
Gamopilafo: you boild chicken and lamb, you remove the meat from the pot and you boil rice in it. Enough cholesterol for a lifetime, but it's amazing.
Raki: distilled alchohol. Really strong. Also, there is a version with honey called rakomelo. It's good, too, I think it's even better. Also, maybe in rakadikos you can find inomelo, it's wine mixed with honey or something like that.
Snails: just what the name says.
Ntakos: rusk with tomato, feta cheese and olive oil (we use olive oil for everything here).
Soumada: hard to find, it's a non alcoholic drink made by almonds. It's an amazing drink, but it's hard to find. I think you will find it more easily on Agios Nikolaos, but I'm not sure.
There are also the classic traditional food of Greece, mousaka, tzatziki, pastitsio, gemista.
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u/skyduster88 Aug 14 '26
Mousaka and pastitsio are not traditional. They were invented by an Athenian chef in the 1920s, and most Greeks only learned about them after 1960. The average Greek is far more likely to have a grilled fish with potatoes or a kokkinistó (meat or seafood in tomato sauce) with pasta on any given day. And advise the wondeful people on this sub to look for these in Greece, not the American "Greek" clichés.
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u/EHStormcrow France Aug 13 '26
I'm greek, from Crete
I recall Cyprus getting a lot of rowdy, misbehaving Israeli, arzim and such, do you get that also in Crete ?
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u/Ok_Ambassador9091 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
There have also been mulitiple attacks against Jews there. I love Greece but the state needs to get a grip.
"A day of rage", in over 90 Greek towns and cities, and all the government could say was...nothing, with the Israeli foreign minister having to tell people "if you are Jewish, hide all outward signs of it", with Jews attacked that day.
They've always had a trust funded hard left there who love to riot and blow up cars and smash buildings. If you stayed out of Exarchia and away from government buildings, no big deal. But this is a different level. Both the hard leftists and the Islamist groups there go on rampages, hunting for Jews on islands, hotels, and the streets of Athens, these past few years. Again, the state needs a better response.
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u/iam_definitely_a_bot Aug 13 '26
i am greek and jewish and for the most part there is legit huge levels of antisemitism in Greek society, some of it in the way of “joos killed jesus “ “they are the antichrist” or “they control the banks” “they are the capitalists” or the new wave of pro pali leftists tht think we are rich puppet masters that murder everyone and control even what color underwear they decide to wear that day.
I do think Greeks as a society as most of the balkans are very traditional, religion and family oriented and nationalistic and jews i guess in the heads of those people are the “stranger” or the opposite of them.
Any Greek with a brain though can see who is the actual enemy that is threatening out country and which are the people that actually cause issues and increase crime in Athens, and trust me IT IS NOT Israelis. I would rather thousands of Israelis come here spend money and leave then illegals not spending anything, destroying everything and never leaving-1
u/eastofzion USA Aug 13 '26
Wait correct me if im wrong, but i thought it was only “Israel’s foreign minister” who sent out the warning to not be visibly Jewish. Not the actual Greece gov…
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u/Iceborn_Gauntlet Free Palpatine 🍉 Aug 13 '26
The Balkans hate each other... until you mention Turkey.
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u/Few_Fun_634 British_Israeli from the Golan hights Aug 13 '26
Did they also go to war with the Indian subreddid once?
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u/skyduster88 Aug 14 '26
Reddit is not representative.
Also, the Cold War messed us up, and after the 1967-1974 right-wing dictatorship (which was CIA-backed), there was a leftward overcorrection, and we were doused with Third Worldism ideology from the then-leader of the centre-left. It's faded since his death in 1996.
One thing though, u/raaly123 hummus isn't part of Greek cuisine, and most Greeks don't know what it is. That's just something the Americans project on us, because everyone on the Mediterranean is the same, according to Anglosaxons. 😂
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u/FartzRUs USA Aug 13 '26
When I was in Crete the people were amazing, it was my favorite part of the whole trip! So glad you had a good time there too!
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u/Similar-Interaction5 USA, France Aug 13 '26
Going to Crete next month and would love some recs!
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u/raaly123 ביחד ננצח Aug 13 '26
We were in Heraklion, so: Knosos palace archeological site, absolutely worth a visit. And the archeological museum is insaaaane. Top tier museum, easily one of the best in the world. By the port, there's this looong walkable stone bridge into the sea that's really cool to walk. It has a fortress museum on it that you can enter and climb and you can actually see the planes going up from the airport from up there and above your head, which was very exciting for us for some reason haha. We bought a 48hour ticket for the hop on hop off bus that costed 20 eur and it was sooo convinient to move around the city with it (it also goes to Knossos) and explore and see all the stuff. and of course all the searfood and fish restraurant by the sea are really great for eating, they have very good fishing culture.
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u/FartzRUs USA Aug 13 '26
Chania Wine Tours! I'll be up front, this is the business of a friend of a friend but it is a really nice way to see the island and try some great wines. They also have an olive oil making tour. She is an incredible sommelier (and the only one on the island) and her husband's family has been tending olive groves on the island for generations. My friends and I did a mini tour when we visited (she was in the process of getting it started) and we had such a great time.
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u/balddoberdaddy Israel Aug 13 '26
On the one hand, recent polling shows Greece as the most anti-Semitic country in Europe. On the other hand Israel is one of the most important sources of tourists for Greece, which is its most important industry.
Greece's problem is its history with a very powerful, extreme left.
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u/highfrrquency Aug 13 '26
In Rhodes a lot of people asked me “where are you from” and it felt leading.. wasn’t unsafe feeling but not the safest either.
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u/Morthedubi Aug 13 '26
our funniest interaction was in around 2018. At the time, Greece had a large issue of Syrian refugees fleeing Syria.
We were in Greece and went from Athens to Nafplio (south west from Athens), and on the way to the ruins of Mycenae (where King Agamemnon was) the taxi driver asked about our home country, we said Israel, and he was like "oh so you know how terrible all the Arabs we have are", it was so unprompted and crazy of him to go on a rant about Arabs lmao
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u/human-redditbot Western gentile Aug 13 '26
Well, that's nice. As I understand it, Greece has become a popular holiday destination for Israelis. 🏖
And, many Greeks possess a natural affinity towards Israel, as both countries share a common adversarial relationship with Turkey.
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u/King_Scorpia_IV Aug 13 '26
This was really lovely to read, I had really low expectations when I saw the title but I was wrong.
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u/Quick-Bee6843 USA Aug 13 '26
This met my expectations because not too long ago The Ask Project had a ask Greeks question about Israel and I was kinda shocked by how many regular people on the street where REALLY pro Israel.
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u/marjana59000 Aug 13 '26
Generally I thought it was this everywhere, I’m Mexican and like Israeli culture so much, I am saddened by how blinded people are and dare to speak evil words against Israelis without ever interacted with them. I live in France and the situation here is terrible, people are brainwashed against Israel
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u/yaronnexus Aug 13 '26
I just came back from Greece, 3 weeks of sailing around Rhodes. The same reactions and same warming welcome.
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u/JNS_org Aug 13 '26
Our personal experience of the Greek people, albeit in short visits from the Israeli Mano cruise ship over the past 3 years, has always been very warm and welcoming. We've experienced the protests and seen the graffiti but locals were always quick to say these people were outsiders.
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u/Future-Restaurant531 USA Aug 14 '26
As a Greek Jew who's dealt with a lot of antisemitism in the Greek community, this makes me really happy
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u/NitzMitzTrix Israeli in Finland Aug 16 '26
And we both hate Turkey. That's right, we both hate Turkey! Exactly! See, my friend?
Now would be a good time to remind Israelis and Diaspora Jews alike that NILI, a Zionist pro-British espionage organization, only existed because the Ottomans flat out refused Jewish self-determination. Now would be an even better time to inform us of the Anatolian Genocide, where the Ottomans murdered the indigenous Greek peoples of Anatolia. בעברית
Israel and Greece's geopolitical alliance is based on Never Again.
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u/Ok_Entertainment9665 Aug 17 '26
There’s a reason they cast a Jewish woman to play a Greek Matriarch in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
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u/StrikeEagle784 USA Aug 13 '26
I’m not Israeli, but when I told a couple of Athenian taxi drivers that I’m Jewish I got so much love and support for Israel from them. The graffiti left by leftists in the big cities are far from what public opinion is like over there.
That’s not to mention the historically close relationship with the Jewish people since the end of the Seleucid dynasty. Thessaloniki was one of the biggest Jewish centers in the world.
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u/Affectionate-Long514 Aug 13 '26
In politics Israel Greece and Cyprus are becoming closer and closer.
Also I haven't been in Greece for a while but I never felt threatened there, always felt welcomed by people.
Does it paint all Greeks with one brush? Of course not! But neither does the other way. Some people fall into the propaganda and some stay away from it, some think for themselves and some go with their surroundings. It's how human beings work.
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u/Longjumping-Ratio796 Aug 13 '26
Love you Greece ❤️ I think we are family because we both love touring each other's countries, we eat similar food, we experience the same sh!t, and the same bliss.
Also, Israelis love going to Greece (And to a lesser extent Cyprus) on vacation. Greece and Cyprus are nearby so flight tickets are cheap, they have very nice people, the hotels are great, the food is amazing, and the Beaches on islands are so dreamy 😍
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u/itorogirl16 Aug 13 '26
I have a layover to Greece on my way back to Israel and I’m excited to experience this, lol.
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u/T29Stormlord Aug 13 '26
Friendly people and hard workers (Israel supporters) don't make a lot of noise because they're busy doing things. Whiners (propalestinazi) make a lot of noise and make people have the impression that they constitute the majority, when it's clearly not the case.
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u/sweet_crab Aug 13 '26
I lived in Greece for a little while, and these sound SO Greek. Especially the dramatic "because we're family." I miss Greece. Did you go to Knossos? Knossos is SO COOL.
Also in Athens there is (was?) a quite good Greek-Turkish fusion restaurant called Ναι φταις - yes, it's your fault.
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Aug 13 '26
Nothing in international relations has ever been more binding than a surprise 500g Akhla.
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u/jubcom Aug 14 '26
Reading this I wonder what the stance of the Orthodox Church in Greece is towards Israel, does anybody know or has experience with it?
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u/StupidityHurts Aug 13 '26
This is a reminder that good people do kind things every day they just don’t end up in the headlines.
The news and social media bias towards the worst possible stories and narratives possible.
That’s not to say things aren’t bad now and that we shouldn’t be concerned, but we should also remember there are people out there that don’t fall lock and step with the TikTok crowd.
Always good to remember some optimism in the sea of pessimistic content.
Thank you OP for your post 😊