Greek properties advertised in Athens Airport in Hebrew: The impact on younger generations

By Ioanna Theou

There is an advertisement that is presented in the Athens airport. Of course, this advertisement is not addressed to Greeks but to Jewish people. Greece is presented as a‘’heaven’’ for Israeli tourists, especially in this fragile situation with the Israeli-Palestinian war. [i]

The advertisement states the availability of homes, with starting price at 90.000 euros. According to the world Jewish Congress in 2023, there were around 4000 Jews that lived in Greece. [ii] Thessaloniki was considered the centre of Jewish culture before the First and Second World War. Athens of course is the capital of Greece and therefore it can host a considerable Jewish community. Athens also provides a range of investment opportunities, particularly in the real estate sector.[iii]

The number of permanent citizens might have increased due to the advantages that the Greek government is providing through the golden visa program and due to the Palestinian- Israeli war.

The Greek government has supported openly the Israeli regime after the attacks of 7^th October. Athens is seeking to strengthen the Israel-Greek relations with agreements in defence, energy, intelligence and military exercises. The closer cooperation between Greece might be helpful for the aggressive foreign policy of Turkey but can cause diplomatic issues at the international and European level, but it can also have domestic political and social consequences.[iv]

In a context of prolonged economic pressure, inflation, and a housing crisis, Greek society -especially the younger generations- is facing increasing difficulties in accessing basic necessities such as affordable housing and economic independence. Rising property prices, combined with broader cost of living pressures, are forcing many young people, to delay important life choices, including leaving the family house, starting a family, marriage, and creating a family. Within this context, debates about state priorities gain political significance and some questions arises again. Why does the greek government ignore inflation, and the inability of younger generations to create families of their own.

Foreign policy should be considered alongside the need to address domestic challenges such as inflation and declining birth rates. In this sense, foreign policy cannot be separated from internal social and economic conditions.

A key policy objective is the strengthening of the demographic population through measures that support young people, improve living standards, and create conditions that make it easier to create families. Rising costs of living and economic insecurity affect the ability of younger generations to establish independent households and contribute to population growth.

From this perspective, success in not only measured in terms of security agreements, but also in terms of whether state policies contribute to the long-term stability, cohesion, and demographic resilience of society. For example the neighbouring country of Turkey, in 1925, the newly established republic had approximately 13 million citizens. By 2026, the population has reached to  88 million people. On the other hand, Greece’s population was approximately 6 million in 1925 and in 2026 was close to 10 million. Greece cannot realistically be expected to reach the population size of Turkey due to differences in scale and historical development, but perhaps the previous greek governments did not focus on the demographic policy and which proactive measures could have been taken over time to address population stagnation.

Resources

[i] Helleniscope, ‘’Greece for Sale’’: Outrage over Israeli advertisement at ‘Venizelos Airport’’, https://www.helleniscope.com/2026/04/17/greece-for-sale-outrage-over-israeli-advertisement-at-venizelos-airport/

[ii] About the population of Israelis in Greece, World Jewish Congress, https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/gr

[iii] Tomky, N. (2025, April 5). ‘’In search of Greece’s once great Jewish city’’, BBC. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250404-in-search-of-greeces-once-great-jewish-city

Banking news, ‘’What is happening.. Why Jews are suddenly buying property in Greece?’’, https://www.bankingnews.gr/en/index.php?id=868483&mayri-pena/articles/868483/what-is-happening-why-jews-are-suddenly-buying-property-in-greece-en-masse

[iv]Rigopoulos, T., (2025, August 27).‘’Greece’s Risky Embrace of Israel’’, Foreign Policy in Focus, https://fpif.org/greeces-risky-embrace-of-israel/