Right, so while Israel claims a divine deed to the land between the river and the sea, a growing number of its citizens have been quietly boarding boats, booking flights, and potentially trading in their settler dreams for other lands, maybe even going home from whence they actually came, but a large number have escaped to beachside views in Cyprus. It’s hard to cry “eternal homeland” when your people flee as Iran attacks and start queuing up for property in Limassol like it’s a Black Friday sale. As Gaza burns under Israeli bombs and Tel Aviv quivered under Iranian missile fire, the great escape has been on—and it’s not to the West Bank, but to Cyprus and in such numbers its causing consternation amongst the locals that they might become Promised Land Mark II.
What began as a fleeing a crisis – and not just the current one, but others in recent years as well - has become a mass relocation, raising the uncomfortable question: when Israelis say “Next year in Jerusalem,” are they now secretly adding, “but maybe just a holiday home in Paphos”? With Israeli airlines offering bargain-bin fares to repatriate the fleeing faithful and Cyprus struggling to hold back what some are calling a silent occupation of their island now, the contradiction couldn’t be starker. If Israel is the promised land, why are so many of its ‘own’ now trying to escape it?
Right, so as Israeli state violence in Gaza continues as full-scale genocide and the conflict with Iran has revealed the state’s vulnerability, many Israelis have been looking for the exit. For years, they’ve been buying up parts of Cyprus for its affordability and proximity, but now they’re doing so with unprecedented urgency and as Cyprus's Akel opposition party has warned, this isn’t just a real estate story—it’s a geopolitical concern, an intelligence risk, and a source of social disruption.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has triggered a deepening sense of insecurity among its population, particularly its settler class, long emboldened by the illusion of invincibility that has been cultivated – that they are untouchable. The October 7 attacks, followed by Israel’s genocidal rampage in Gaza and then a sharp escalation with Iran, have left many Israelis fearing for their safety, notably since the Iranian retaliation. Iran’s unprecedented missile strikes on Tel Aviv and Haifa marked a particular turning point, making the reality of vulnerability painfully obvious.
In response, hundreds fled by sea to safety, others by land to Egypt as I discussed in a video yesterday and from there flying off to wherever they choose. As Israel’s air and land routes closed, many escapees resorted to uninsured and often illegal sailings to Cyprus. The Associated Press and Times of Israel detailed how the Chabad network in Cyprus became overwhelmed with the influx of panicked Israelis seeking shelter.
El Al, Israel’s national airline, has been offering steep discounts to lure its population back. Without the settlers, Israel’s expansionist narrative crumbles, so they very much want them back, but the place is hardly as appealing as it might have once been to all such people. If the divine claim to land requires a people to settle it, what happens when those people flee? At what point does the Promised Land become a broken promise?
But this migration is not new. As Haaretz reported in August 2023, even before the events of October 7, Israelis had been moving to Cyprus en masse. An article titled "The Second Israel? Israelis Are Streaming Into Cyprus to Buy Anything in Sight" revealed a booming trend. The motivations were practical: lower cost of living, physical proximity to Israel and a quieter life.
Canadian journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris has been investigating the surge since late 2023. His work documents luxurious, secretive Israeli resorts in Cyprus that cater to affluent migrants—an elite seeking refuge from the very atrocities they support or ignore. These resorts have become insulated microstates, with synagogues, kosher offices, cemeteries, and kindergartens, built by networks like Chabad.
The rise in Israeli presence is alarming as you dig into it. In 2018, the Israeli population in Cyprus was about 6,500. By 2025, it had more than doubled to 15,000. Government statistics from Cyprus show:
That in Larnaca there were1,406 property purchases, in Limassol 1,154 purchases and in Paphos 1,291 purchases.
In Limassol alone, 12.6% of all foreign transactions in 2023 were Israeli-linked. Some areas are now being described as a "Second Israel," so this is more than just refuge or holiday making, this is a significant population shift
The Israeli exodus to Cyprus has occurred in three distinct waves, each one revealing deeper cracks in the foundations of the Zionist project.
Firstly there was COVID-19. The first major wave of Israeli migration to Cyprus began during the pandemic. As Israel imposed severe lockdowns and its healthcare system strained under pressure, affluent Israelis began seeking refuge in more relaxed environments. Cyprus, with its EU healthcare standards and more lenient restrictions, became an attractive escape route. Real estate professionals noted a surge in long-term rentals and property purchases by Israelis seeking to ride out the pandemic abroad. The fact that Cyprus is only a short flight—or boat ride—away made it an ideal fallback option.
Then came the judicial reforms in 2023 prior to the events of October 7. This second wave of Israelis to Cyprus was triggered by the internal political chaos that gripped Israel at that time. Mass protests erupted against Benjamin Netanyahu’s so-called judicial reforms, which many saw as a naked power grab that threatened democracy, designed to try and get himself off the hook for those corruption charges he’s again trying to get away from right now. This unrest shattered the myth of Israeli stability and prompted many citizens—especially the wealthy and mobile—to hedge their bets. Cyprus again served as a haven. Israelis started purchasing homes not just for vacation, but as a permanent relocation option. Many cited disillusionment with the Israeli political system and fears of a descent into authoritarianism, I can’t imagine why they might have thought that for the life of me(!)
Thirdly of course there has been the genocide in Gaza and the Iran Conflict. This has been the most significant wave. As Israel launched its full-scale assault on Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 attack, international outrage and domestic fear spiralled. Then came the escalation with Iran—missile strikes on Israeli cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa, and retaliatory attacks on Israeli military infrastructure. The sense of imminent danger drove many to flee. Hundreds of Israelis boarded boats, some without insurance or formal documentation, to reach the relative safety of Cyprus. This wave includes settlers from the West Bank, families from central Israel, and political dissidents seeking distance from a regime mired in war crimes. Unlike earlier waves, this exodus feels more permanent, driven not by convenience but by survival and that sense that Israel simply isn’t the untouchable safe haven it has long been touted to be.
Each wave has built upon the last, turning a temporary migration pattern into a sustained population shift. What began as opportunistic relocation has evolved into a demographic transformation, with Cyprus absorbing the overflow of a collapsing Zionist vision.
The Cypriot opposition party Akel, the Progressive Party of Working People, has voiced growing concern about this. As Israeli nationals buy land and settle in strategic zones, many Cypriots see this not as investment but as silent occupation. Housing prices are surging. Locals are being displaced. In areas like Limassol and Paphos, gated communities populated almost exclusively by Israelis are emerging—closed-off enclaves reminiscent of West Bank settlements.
This transformation is about more than economics. It’s about identity and sovereignty. Akel warns that these land grabs could threaten Cyprus’s cultural integrity and strategic autonomy. And they're not alone in their concerns.
The Turkish-Cypriot north of the island, historically more tightly controlled, has also begun to restrict Israeli purchases. Since December 2023, only about 200 Israeli applications have been recorded, and authorities have imposed caps on plot sizes to prevent land monopolisation. A legal loophole remained however - Israeli settlers could register as Turkish-Cypriot businesses to bypass restrictions and acquire land, but this has been clamped down on too.
The presence of RAF Akrotiri, a British air base in Cyprus, further complicates matters, operating staunchly as it is in Israel’s interests right now. But where Turkish Cyprus has sought to clamp down on Israeli settlement, its not so much the case in the Greek part of the island. Unilateral defence and settlement agreements between Greek Cyprus and Israel potentially violate the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee as well, which gives Greece, Türkiye, and the UK a say in the island’s sovereignty, so can Cyprus even save itself with Greece and the UK certainly very pro Israel and Turkiye being vocally opposing israel, but behind the scenes much less so, still doing business with them after all, especially when it comes to oil pipelines.
Observers of the Israeli influx have also warned that not all arrivals are civilians. Some may be dual-use actors—intelligence agents or political influencers, helping to extend Israel’s soft power in the region. Such activity could destabilise the precarious balance Cyprus maintains between its communities and its guarantor states.
Much of this expansion is facilitated by Chabad, which I mentioned before, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish outreach movement with a long history of settler support. In Cyprus, Chabad has established synagogues, kosher food systems, and even burial grounds, very much making themselves at home and shaping parts of the island as they want it.
What’s emerging in Cyprus is eerily familiar to Palestinians. The same logic—build, settle, fortify, and isolate—may be being replicated. Fears of Cyprus becoming a second Promised Land are genuine.
The Israeli government’s push to bring its people home betrays the panic in Tel Aviv though. Without settlers, there is no expansion. Without a population willing to live under their terms, under siege as Netanyahu’s need for war to stay in power persists, there is no state credibility. Israel needs its people to stay put, even as it makes their lives unbearable.
El Al’s discounts are part of a larger psychological campaign. But many Israelis have tasted the safety and prosperity of life abroad—and they’re not coming back. Many have returned, true, not having the means to do otherwise, but many have simply moved their lives, families, and capital to Cyprus permanently.
All of this undermines the myth of the unshakable Zionist homeland. If Israel is the divinely ordained Promised Land, why are its people escaping it in droves? If these are God’s Chosen People, why is this happening to them? If Gaza is being obliterated in the name of Jewish security, why are Jews choosing to live elsewhere?
Put simply, it seems that faith in the Zionist project is cracking. And in its place, an exodus—not to Europe or America, no parting of the Red Sea this time—but just across the sea, to an island that’s nearby, but also far enough away.
What we are witnessing in Cyprus is a red flag to its people. Israel’s wars are not just destroying Gaza and destabilising itself—they’re eating away at the core of Israeli society. Settlers are abandoning ship. A population that once proudly bore the banner of divine entitlement is quietly cashing out.
And in doing so, they may be exporting the same settler-colonial template that brought so much suffering to Palestinians to other places that they settle in. Cyprus must decide what kind of future it wants: one that safeguards its own history and sovereignty, or one that allows itself to become the next chapter in Israel’s endless pursuit of expansion.
For more on the escape to Egypt, facilitated by US and Israeli puppet President Sisi, all whilst the doors to Rafah remain bolted shut, check out this video recommendation here as your suggested next watch.
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