Athens Mayor slams Israeli envoy over “antisemitic graffiti”

“We will not accept lessons in democracy by those who kill civilians.” The sharp and direct response of Athens Mayor Haris Doukas must have landed like a bomb shell in front of the eyes of Israel’s Ambassador to Greece Noam Katz.

The envoy of Israel in Athens had criticized Doukas claiming that the mayor of Athens was not doing enough to protect the city from organized minorities or clean up antisemitic graffiti, and making Israeli tourists feel uncomfortable. He had published his criticism in Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday.

Mayor Doukas posted his own response to Katz on X stressing, among others, that the city respects its visitors and supports its citizens’ freedom of expression (full message below in ENG).

Δε δεχόμαστε μαθήματα δημοκρατίας από όσους σκοτώνουν αμάχους.

Η Αθήνα, πρωτεύουσα μιας δημοκρατικής χώρας, σέβεται απόλυτα τους επισκέπτες της και υποστηρίζει το δικαίωμα της ελεύθερης έκφρασης των πολιτών της.

Ως δημοτική αρχή της πόλης έχουμε αποδείξει την ενεργή αντίθεση… pic.twitter.com/gQz0oPGotA

— Haris Doukas (@h_doukas) August 3, 2025

“We will not accept lessons in democracy by those who kill civilians.

“Athens, as a capital of a democratic country, absolutely respects its visitors and supports the right of its citizens to freedom of expression.

“As the municipal authority of the city, we have proven our active opposition to violence and racism, ad do not accept lessons in democracy by those who kill civilians and children in the food-rationing queues, by those who are leading dozens of people in Gaza to death from hunger and thirst on a daily basis.

“The ambassador’s focus only on graffiti (which obviously get erased) is abhorrent, at a time when an unprecedented genocide is taking place in Gaza. I should also like to inform the ambassador that in the last year the number of Israelis to whom a Greek Golden Visa was granted rose over 90%.”