RELATED:Greek coalition politician admits: There was a HolocaustPapandreou spearheaded a dramatic shift in Greece’s orientation towards Israel, moving Greece – in a period of about two years – from being one of Israel’s harshest critics in the EU, to one of its staunchest supporters.Samaras pointed out that when he served as foreign minister in 1990, he was actually the Greek official who signed the document officially recognizing Israel.“For decades, my party, Nea Demokratia, has been supporting a more balanced approach towards the Middle East.Indeed, Papandreou himself, last year, switched to the approach we have always been advocating.“Establishing stronger ties with Israel is one of the very few initiatives by the ex-prime minister that we, as an opposition party, full-heartedly supported. As a matter of fact we encouraged him publicly in the parliament to do so. And when he did, we stood by him on the issue.”Samaras said Israel and Greece have much in common, and “future historians will have a hard time explaining why we hesitated for so long to make the most out of our common interests.”
Greek opposition leader supports ties with Israel
"Papandreou’s support of Israel one of few achievements," says Antonis Samaras.
RELATED:Greek coalition politician admits: There was a HolocaustPapandreou spearheaded a dramatic shift in Greece’s orientation towards Israel, moving Greece – in a period of about two years – from being one of Israel’s harshest critics in the EU, to one of its staunchest supporters.Samaras pointed out that when he served as foreign minister in 1990, he was actually the Greek official who signed the document officially recognizing Israel.“For decades, my party, Nea Demokratia, has been supporting a more balanced approach towards the Middle East.Indeed, Papandreou himself, last year, switched to the approach we have always been advocating.“Establishing stronger ties with Israel is one of the very few initiatives by the ex-prime minister that we, as an opposition party, full-heartedly supported. As a matter of fact we encouraged him publicly in the parliament to do so. And when he did, we stood by him on the issue.”Samaras said Israel and Greece have much in common, and “future historians will have a hard time explaining why we hesitated for so long to make the most out of our common interests.”