‘Trying to dominate’: In Cyprus, some fear Israel’s growing influence

Nicosia and Limassol, Cyprus – Heavily bearded and wearing a escaped shirt, Christos Achniotis speaks astir the past and demographics of Cyprus and runs disconnected dates from memory.

He was 16 erstwhile Turkish troops landed successful Cyprus successful mid-1974. At 1 point, Limassol has agelong had a ample Russian community, helium said, but that revolved astir spot investments.

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Now, helium believes determination is unit from Israel, which helium says is “trying to predominate arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, land-wise, company-wise”, arsenic good arsenic politically and militarily.

Israel’s scope successful Cyprus present runs done the state’s astir captious systems.

Christos Achniotis successful Nicosia [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Mekorot, Israel’s authorities h2o company, helps proviso the island’s water. Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned arms maker, is supplying its caller aerial defences. And Israeli firms tally a increasing infirmary web and clasp a involvement successful the country’s largest gasfield.

Israel’s system is astir 15 times Cyprus’s, according to the World Bank, and Israel’s subject spending is astir 73 times that of Cyprus.

Cyprus’s authorities presents the ties arsenic a information confederation against Turkiye, but respective Cypriots interviewed by Al Jazeera said they feared their state is handing different authorities power of systems it cannot unrecorded without.

Israel is “a tiny country with large wealth and a large military”. Cyprus is strategically placed successful the Mediterranean and, conscionable a 35-minute formation away, is an charismatic portion of land, said Achniotis.

‘Our resources’

Cyprus gets astir 80 percent of its drinking h2o from the sea.

With its dams conscionable 21 percent afloat successful March, desalination plants proviso astir of what comes retired of its taps, according to the Water Development Department.

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said successful June that desalination would screen astir each home request by adjacent year.

Mekorot has associated ventures with Cypriot steadfast Netcom that tally 2 of the island’s 5 imperishable plants, astatine Larnaca and Episkopi, according to the Water Development Department. In August, Mekorot expanded its practice with Cyprus, signing a memorandum with the Nicosia District Water Board to assistance negociate h2o and sewerage successful the capital.

A tube strategy to transportation h2o from Israel to Jordan by Mekorot, adjacent Kibbutz Masada by the borderline with Jordan [File: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

For Danae Laou, who works successful hospitality successful Limassol, the h2o deals crossed a line.

“It’s terrifying to see, but astatine the aforesaid time, we person nary power,” she said.

Today’s concern of Palestine is successful portion facilitated by power of captious resources. “I tin spot the aforesaid happening happening here”, she said.

Palestinians cognize Mekorot well.

In the occupied West Bank, the institution is connected the United Nations database of businesses linked to amerciable Israeli settlements.

Najla Abdellatif Vallander, a Swedish-Palestinian biology advocator who founded Zero Waste Palestine, has tracked Mekorot’s enactment successful Palestine and overseas and told Al Jazeera that its operations successful the West Bank are akin to “water theft”, diverting Palestinian sources to amerciable Israeli settlements.

“Israeli settlers are capable to bask astir unlimited amounts of h2o portion Palestinians are not allowed to usage their ain h2o sources,” she said.

Palestinians “have to bargain backmost their ain h2o sources from Mekorot”, and are mostly barred from digging their ain wells. “This is h2o apartheid,” she said.

At the clip of publishing, Mekorot had not responded to Al Jazeera’s petition for comment.

Activists assistance flags of Cyprus and Palestine arsenic they march successful enactment of Palestinians successful Nicosia [File: Alex Mita/AFP]

‘Leverage’

Israel’s economical footprint has grown fast.

Investors successful Israel held 5.1 cardinal euros ($5.7bn) of concern successful Cyprus astatine the extremity of 2024, much than six times what they held successful 2017, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus.

The existent fig whitethorn beryllium higher arsenic the information excludes Israelis surviving successful Cyprus oregon elsewhere, and whitethorn miss wealth routed done companies whose owners are hard to trace.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is besides weighing a bid for the Cyprus Stock Exchange, which the authorities is privatising, Cyprus Mail and the Israeli concern regular Globes reported this month.

The Cypriot exchange’s European Union licence would springiness Israel “greater entree to the Eurozone market”, a root adjacent to Cyprus’s Ministry of Finance told the Cyprus Mail.

Health is the newest.

Hadassah Medical Centre Limassol, the Israeli infirmary group’s archetypal centre successful Europe, began seeing patients successful July and was formally opened connected Thursday.

Its opening was ratified successful Israel by Hadassah’s governing bodies, including the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America.

Offshore, Israel’s NewMed Energy owns 30 percent of the Aphrodite gasfield, according to its filings to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The 2 governments are besides negotiating implicit the field, which Israel says extends into its waters.

An IAI’s BARAK-MX aerial defence launcher successful Ashdod, Israel [File: Amir Cohen/Reuters]

‘Create a problem’

Israel has besides been flexing its subject muscle.

Israeli peculiar forces person trained successful Cyprus’s Troodos mountains, whose terrain resembles confederate Lebanon, according to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

In 2022, the 2 armies held their largest associated workout yet, simulating a warfare with Hezbollah, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Cyprus is replacing its Russian-made aerial defences with the Barak MX, built by Israel Aerospace Industries, with deliveries opening successful precocious 2024.

Israel presents itself arsenic a guardian against Turkiye.

Following a coup successful Cyprus backed by Greece’s subject authorities successful July 1974, Turkiye invaded the land and has occupied its bluish portion ever since. Only Turkiye and its Turkish Cypriot enactment recognise Northern Cyprus.

In precocious December 2025, Israeli and Cypriot subject officials signed a 2026 practice program covering associated exercises, training, and “strategic subject dialogue”, the Israeli subject said.

On Tuesday, a pro-Israel advocacy group, the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), launched a caucus of six Cypriot lawmakers from 3 parties successful Nicosia. Its president, Josh Reinstein, told reporters aft the group’s gathering with the Cypriot president astatine the statesmanlike palace connected Wednesday that Turkiye is simply a “common adversary”, according to the Cyprus Mail.

The absorption enactment AKEL called it “extremely provocative”, asking what credibility Cyprus has successful demanding unit connected Turkiye portion backing “another occupying and settler state”, the Cyprus Mail reported.

Last month, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “illegally occupies bluish Cyprus, an EU member”.

Danae Laou successful Limassol [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Netanyahu “knows what he’s doing”, said Ioanna Lamprou, a writer successful Limassol.

Cypriots who consciousness the satellite has forgotten the occupation, she said, volition “become much sympathetic to Israel and to Netanyahu’s authorities due to the fact that of this”, but they “don’t recognize that what’s happening successful the West Bank is amerciable concern arsenic well”.

Laou understands the government’s reasoning; from its perspective, she said, “Cyprus can’t support itself from anything.”

Ceylan Hassan, a Turkish Cypriot researcher and biology societal scientist, said the British had won implicit Cypriots the aforesaid way, by promising to support them harmless from a bigger threat.

Israel is doing “the full assemblage happening of let’s make a occupation and past beryllium the solution to it and ne'er fto it go”.

‘Athens oregon Crete’

In 1902, Theodore Herzl, the laminitis of governmental Zionism, presented a pamphlet to a British Parliamentary Committee with the thought of establishing a Jewish homeland successful Cyprus. He offered a pamphlet with the title: The occupation of Jewish migration to England and the United States solved by furthering the Jewish Colonisation of Cyprus.

Britain’s assemblage secretary refused, saying Greeks and Muslims lived there, according to Herzl’s diary.

Herzl mused, “The Greeks volition gladly merchantability their lands astatine a bully terms and migrate to Athens oregon Crete.”

Achniotis has thought astir that past much since the genocidal warfare connected Gaza began.

Watching what is happening to Palestinians, helium said, “I deliberation it tin hap to anyone.”

As the onslaught happened truthful easily, with the acceptance of the US and European governments, “you consciousness a benignant of insecurity,” helium said. “Why are they going to respect you?”