Lucas Velidakis
Jul 23, 2025
Greek police have dismissed reports in Israeli media alleging that a mob carried out a knife attack against a group of Israeli tourists on the island of Rhodes.
According to police sources, the incident involved a verbal altercation at a nightclub between a group of about 20 Israeli teenagers, aged 18 to 19, and a second group of 10 individuals. However, no physical violence occurred.
The incident took place around 4 a.m. on Wednesday in a busy nightlife area in the city.
The Israeli group was reportedly chanting pro-Israel slogans at a bar when the second group responded with pro-Palestinian chants, allegedly calling the Israelis “murderers.”
Police said that the confrontation remained verbal. Tensions deescalated after bar staff intervened and the second group left the scene without further incident.
Later, as the Israeli group was walking back to their hotel, approximately 100 meters from the bar, one individual was allegedly approached and struck by an unknown passerby.
A police investigation, including witness testimony and video analysis, found no evidence of knife use or any organized assault involving vehicles, as had been claimed in some Israeli media reports.
Nine Israeli nationals were identified in connection with the incident. All departed Rhodes by plane later that morning.
One of them verbally confirmed the sequence of events as described by the police.
The incident in Rhodes occurred just one day after a separate controversy involving Israeli tourists in Greece.
On Tuesday, an Israeli cruise ship was turned away from the island of Syros after a large protest was staged at the island’s port. The ship later arrived at the port of Limassol in Cyprus on Wednesday afternoon.
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