Profound Change Seen in Greece’s Attitude Toward Israel

The 100th anniversary of the birth of David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, was celebrated here last week at the City Hall. The prominence of those attending, no less than the rank and position of the organizers of the centennial event, reflected a profound change in the attitude of Greece toward Israel, a country with which it still does not have full diplomatic relations.

The 500 guests included representatives of the government and Parliament, the Greek Orthodox Church and the foreign diplomatic corps. The government was officially represented on the occasion by the Minister of Culture, the world famous film actress Melina Mercouri, who, diplomatic observers noted, has “come a long way” since she embraced Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat in the Athens Stadium in 1982. The Socialist-led government too has come a long way. Part of the ceremony was broadcast by Greek Television, which could not have been done without the express approval of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.

The entire event was under the auspices of Athens Mayor Miltiades Evert whose father, as chief of police during the Nazi occupation of Greece, saved the lives of many Jews by issuing them false identification papers. The committee which arranged the centennial celebration was headed by a former President of Greece, Konstantinos Tsatsos. Its chairman was the Deputy Mayor of Athens, Zachos Xadjifotiou.

The keynote speaker was Angelos Vlahos, a retired diplomat, now a professor at the University of Atens, who served for two years as Greek diplomatic representative in Israel. He shared the platform with Israel’s diplomatic representative here, Moshe Gilboa, who holds the rank of Ambassador.