By Giorgos Loukaidis
- Parliamentary Spokesperson for AKEL
The decision by DISY, DIKO, and ELAM to join the Cypriot chapter of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) poses a tremendous challenge, at a time when the Netanyahu government continues to stain its hands with the blood of the Palestinian people—the blood of children, women, and other civilians. At a time when even governments traditionally friendly toward Israel are being forced to set limits, the leaders of this initiative are offering their services to bolster the Israeli lobby.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
VIDEO: This is Israel’s new ambassador to Cyprus
On September 30, Nicholas Papadopoulos assumed the presidency of the branch, with Charalambos Petridis, George Karoullas (DISY), and Sotiris Ioannou (ELAM) serving as vice presidents. It came as no surprise that Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos was present to support this initiative. The Christodoulides government has been offering political cover and support to Netanyahu throughout this period, flouting international law and turning tolerance of genocide and atrocities into political complicity.
The TFI was founded by the American Jewish Committee and serves to strategically strengthen Israel in the Euro-Atlantic region. It has organized a campaign to vote against resolutions and abolish UN mechanisms that it characterizes as anti-Israel. Participation in the TFI implies political support for its goals and actions, and thus a responsibility for the cover it provides to Israel against international scrutiny and accountability.
How do the representatives of the DISY–DIKO–ELAM coalition justify this choice, following the findings of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, chaired by this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay, that Israel committed genocide in Gaza? How does their support for Israel’s far-right government reconcile with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant for alleged warand crimes against humanity? What other atrocities against children, women, and other civilians do they need to witness to understand what it means to offer political support to such a government?
We truly wonder if there are any limits to their political callousness when, among many other countries, even Israel’s close allies are forced to set limits and impose consequences in the face of the magnitude of the crimes committed by the State of Israel and Netanyahu’s far-right government. Just this past September, the United Kingdom and Canada announced that they would move forward with measures to ban trade in products from illegal settlements. Together with Australia, they had already imposed sanctions on Ben Gvir and Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians, and in June 2026, they took new coordinated measures against settlement-related violence.
How, then, does the DISY–DIKO–ELAM coalition justify its decision to join a lobby that seeks to politically shield Israel from international outcry? What exactly is the Cypriot interest that compels us to strengthen a network defending Israel, when even its friends are taking measures against ministers and settlers?
With what credibility do they call for international condemnation of the Turkish occupation when they participate in a network that pressures governments to reject UN resolutions on Israel? Are occupation, settlement, and displacement judged by who commits them or by international law?
Why does the development of interparliamentary relations require joining a lobby, which is unprecedented in the history of the Cypriot Parliament? Will we now officially have lobbyists in the House of Representatives who will act in the interests of Israel? What commitments have they made, and who is funding their activities?
How does patriotism—which they otherwise hold in such high regard—reconcile with kowtowing to the agenda of a far-right government in a third country? Where is this policy—promoted by the Christodoulides government and reinforced by the DISY–DIKO–ELAM alliance—leading? At what point does so-called “strategic cooperation” become subservience, and does Cyprus slide into the role of an Israeli protectorate?
Cyprus cannot seek justice for itself while becoming a political accomplice to injustice against any other people. Disregard for international law undermines the strongest foundation of our struggle for liberation from occupation and for reunification. The interests of our people demand a multidimensional foreign policy based on principles that serves peace and protects Cyprus from becoming entangled in foreign military plans. Who has the right to expose our country to the risk of becoming a target? Cyprus’s security and future require that it serve as a bridge of peace and cooperation, acting in accordance with international law and respecting the rights of all peoples.
P.S. As this article was being written, I was informed that a meeting was taking place in the “Pentadaktylos” chamber of the House of Representatives between members of parliament participating in the TFI and non-parliamentary figures, including Nikos Anastasiadis and Haris Georgiadis, in the presence of the new Israeli ambassador and the U.S. ambassador. This was in violation of the practice reaffirmed just last Thursday at the Meeting of the Leaders of the House of Representatives, namely that the House’s facilities are not to be used for extra-parliamentary activities by political parties or members of Congress. The pro-Israel lobby has already gotten to work—and in the most provocative manner, no less.
O tempora, o mores!
SEE ALSO: The Parliament-Israel Allies Foundation cooperation team at the Presidential Palace
