Jul 18, 2025
What began as a quiet migration of affluent Israeli families to southern Cyprus has now triggered fears of foreign encroachment and strategic displacement.
Since 2021, nearly 4,000 properties have been snapped up by Israelis, particularly in the southern districts of Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos. But this isn’t just a real estate story—it’s a political one. High walls, religious schools, kosher shops, synagogues, and business hubs are emerging in these areas, forming what critics say resemble “settlements in all but name.”
The backlash has been swift. Stefanos Stefanou, the General Secretary of Cyprus’s main opposition party Akel, voiced his concerns about Israel’s growing influence on the Mediterranean island: “At some point, we’ll discover our own land doesn’t belong to us,” he warned. “These are not just holiday homes. These are settlements in all but name.”
Outside observers increasingly describe the wave of Israeli migration as a “strategic settlement enterprise.”
The migration has come in waves. Israelis first started showing up during the COVID-19 lockdowns, then again amid Netanyahu’s 2023 judicial reforms, and now in the wake of the Iranian missile strikes of 2025. Today, more than 15,000 Israelis live in southern Cyprus. The trend shows no sign of slowing. Many of these settlers are not disillusioned liberals but deeply Zionist and well-resourced.
Though modern headlines paint Israel and Cyprus as close energy and security partners, the relationship has long been complicated—and often adversarial.
Jewish ties to Cyprus stretch back more than two millennia, beginning in the 4th century BCE, when Jewish communities were firmly established under Hellenistic and later Roman rule. By the Roman period, Jews had built synagogues in cities like Golgoi, Lapethos and Constantia-Salamine. However, this early flourishing came to a violent end during the Kitos War (115–117 CE), when Jewish rebels led a revolt that, according to Roman historian Cassius Dio, ended in the massacre of over 240,000 Greek-Cypriots. The Roman historian provided a particularly gruesome account of Jewish behavior during this war, describing how Jews would “cook their flesh, make belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood, and wear their skins for clothing.”
In response to these acts of brazen savagery, Roman authorities imposed a total ban on Jewish presence on the island, which lasted for centuries. Despite this ban, Jews gradually returned during the Byzantine period, with evidence of synagogue renovation and renewed community life. Tensions, however, persisted.
Under Emperor Heraclius, Cypriot Jews reportedly attacked Christian monasteries, and subsequent Arab raids in the 7th century led to widespread displacement. By the 12th century, Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela observed that Cyprus was home to a variety of Jewish sects—Karaites, Rabbanites, and heretical groups like the Epikursim—concentrated in cities such as Famagusta, Nicosia, and Paphos. Yet even during this medieval renaissance, discrimination remained: Jews in Cyprus were required to wear the yellow badge throughout the 14th century, and their communities existed under legal and religious constraints.
The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571 brought renewed opportunities. Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal and Spain found refuge on the island and other key hubs of the Ottoman Empire such as Constantinople and Salonika. Famagusta became a key commercial hub, though by the late Ottoman period, the Jewish community in Cyprus had again begun to decline.
Under British rule from 1878 to 1960, Zionist thinkers briefly entertained Cyprus as a substitute homeland. Several agricultural settlement attempts were made—most notably the Margo settlement near Larnaca—but all ultimately failed, as younger generations opted to occupy territory in Palestine. Following the end of British rule, Cyprus’s Jewish population dwindled to just 25 individuals by 1970.
The modern Jewish revival began in the early 2000s. From a few hundred residents in 2003, the population ballooned to over 12,000 by 2023. By 2025, it is estimated that there are roughly 12,000 to 15,000 Jews living on the island, many in gated compounds complete with religious and economic infrastructure—sparking fresh controversy among Cypriots.
Parallel to this long community history is the evolution of state-to-state relations between Israel and Cyprus, which have fluctuated between mutual distrust and strategic cooperation. Diplomatic ties were formally established in 1960, the year of Cyprus’s independence. Yet during the Cold War era, Cyprus maintained a cautious distance, aligning with Arab states and reacting warily to Israel’s military ties with Turkey, especially after the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island.
The 1980s marked a low point in bilateral relations. Cyprus recognized the State of Palestine in 1988, hosted Yasser Arafat, and allowed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operations. Diplomatic tensions flared, including the infamous Larnaca yacht killings in 1985 and the car bombing of PLO officials in 1988. In 1993, a notable diplomatic incident occurred when Israel declared Cypriot First Lady Androulla Vassiliou—wife of then-President George Vasiliou—persona non grata after she led a delegation seeking to meet Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who was under Israeli house arrest in Ramallah. Relations remained strained until the 1993 Oslo Accords, after which a thaw began, marked by increased diplomatic engagement and cooperation.
By the 2010s, Cyprus-Israel relations had transformed dramatically. A 2010 agreement to delimit their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) set the stage for joint natural gas exploration and a broader strategic partnership. In 2011 and 2012, both Cypriot and Israeli heads of state — Dimitris Christofias and Benjamin Netanyahu — made historic reciprocal visits, cementing this energy-driven alliance.
In the 2020s, bilateral ties deepened further. Cooperation expanded to include emergency response, innovation, and infrastructure projects like the Great Sea Interconnector. However, regional instability has put this alliance under scrutiny. In 2024, Hezbollah warned Cyprus against supporting Israel militarily, while Turkey issued similar threats. Cyprus has nevertheless served as a critical logistical hub for Israeli operations, including humanitarian efforts during recent conflicts.
Most recently, Israeli real estate investment in southern Cyprus—largely post-2021—has sparked domestic controversy. As thousands of properties have been purchased and a growing Israeli population has settled, some Cypriot politicians have accused Israel of creating a “backyard” on the island.
The current migration wave cannot be understood apart from the post-October 7 landscape. The Hamas attack shattered Israel’s aura of invincibility, while Hezbollah’s ongoing rocket threats and Iran’s dramatic missile salvos in 2024 and 2025 have upended the once-common belief that Israel was the safest place on Earth for Jews to live in.
In 2024 alone, 82,700 Israelis were recorded as having left the country, up from around 55,000 a year before, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. That figure itself was a sharp increase from the previous decade, when approximately 35,000 people left each year.
A 2025 AllJobs poll revealed that 73% of Israeli workers are now contemplating emigration, citing personal safety, political instability, and disillusionment with the state as key factors. Among the preferred destinations: the United States, Greece, and Cyprus.
In a symbolic sense, the dream of “Aliyah”—the Jewish return to Zion—has been replaced by a new exodus. Cyprus, with its close proximity, EU perks, and already growing Jewish infrastructure, has become an attractive haven.
Yet this migration is not without consequence. With settlements expanding and local resentment growing, Cyprus may find itself on the fault line of heightened ethnic tensions. As Israel’s security erodes and its citizens flee, Cyprus could become the latest stage in a long historical sequence where Jewish migration enables subversion and communal backlash.
Cypriot leaders would be wise to close their doors to Jewish migration, lest they want their country to become the latest victim of Jewish perfidy.
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