By
Oct 19, 2026
Valued at more than $3 billion, Achilles Shield has been hailed as the largest “defense” exports deal from Israel to Greece. It will benefit Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, two firms which have provided arms used during the Gaza genocide.
Promising a “multi-layered” system that will supposedly protect against drone attacks, the deal follows a visit to Athens earlier this year by Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister. Katz has publicly endorsed policies designed to deprive Gaza of food, water, medicine and energy, as well as urging mass expulsions from the territory.
As his trip involved discussions on strengthening Greece’s relationship with Israel’s arms industry, the subsequent deal means that the Athens government is pursuing the agenda of a politician who has played a prominent role in a genocide.
BDS Greece – an organization supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions – noted that Achilles Shield would lead to “long-term dependence” on Israel.
“Maintenance, upgrades, spare parts, software, training and operational support will bind Greek defense planning and state foreign policy to Israeli companies for decades,” a spokesperson for BDS Greece told The Electronic Intifada.
When the deal was announced at the end of August, both Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries stated that the technology they will contribute to Achilles Shield has been “combat-proven.”
“‘Combat proven’ is not a neutral technical language,” the BDS Greece spokesperson commented.
“Gaza has become both a laboratory and a showroom for Israeli weapons, surveillance systems, artificial intelligence, drones and targeting technologies. When Greece buys ‘combat-proven’ Israeli technology during the genocide, it rewards the companies sustaining Israel’s military apparatus and helps transform alleged war crimes and mass destruction into marketable expertise and export revenue.”
The agreement on establishing Achilles Shield is not an unexpected turning point, but rather the latest manifestation of a long-standing partnership between Greece and Israel.
Stamp of approval
The partnership has effectively been given a stamp of approval by the European Union as a whole.
In March this year, Lavrio – a seaside town south of Athens – hosted field tests for UnderSec, an EU-funded research project nominally related to “maritime security.” The consortium involved in the project includes Rafael and Israel’s defense ministry.
According to the Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting, UnderSec is largely based on the Rafael-designed Broadlink technology, which was developed with the intention of improving communications between military submarines.
Broadlink, too, is being marketed as “combat-proven.”
As the Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting revealed, the local population in Lavrio was not notified of the tests, which took place inside a nature reserve.
While deals benefiting makers of weapons used against Palestinians are particularly sinister, Greece has also been receptive to broader economic cooperation with Israel amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In the spring of 2026, billboards in Hebrew appeared at Athens International Airport, reading: “Don’t return home without a home in Greece.”
The advertising campaign was launched by Palmo, a company founded by Peleg Yariv and Aviv Cohen, two former officers in the Israeli military. The firm has operated in the Greek real estate sector for several years, amassing a portfolio estimated to be worth approximately $78 million.
Partner in crime
Palmo’s activities are not isolated.
Israelis are among the largest foreign investors in Greek real estate, with the total value of acquisitions surpassing $1.3 billion.
The Israeli firm Zoia has amassed a portfolio worth around $225 million in Athens.
Diamona Greece, meanwhile, was founded and – until 2022 – headed by Alon Gingis, a former officer in the Israeli military, and is now 87.5 percent controlled by the Israeli company Bloom-Tree.
Owning a number of properties in central Athens, Diamona Greece made headlines after acquiring and demolishing a historically significant building to make way for an apartment complex.
The presence of Israeli investors is also felt in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second most populous city.
Progreece, a company co-founded by Zack Vertzberger – who has been a “special unit” officer and “company commander” in the Israeli military – manages apartments across the city.
Greece and Israel have also been pushing for a significant increase in tourism over recent years.
In 2021, Greece and Israel signed a cooperation agreement in the tourism sector.
Israel has subsequently celebrated how Greece is a favorite destination for its holiday makers. In 2024, for example, the Israeli embassy in Athens pointed to 500 monthly flights between Israel and Greece.
Earlier this year, nearly all foreign air travel to Tel Aviv halted after Israel – helped enormously by the US – attacked Iran.
Once flights between Greece and Israel resumed, so did tourism promotion.
In May, Athens hosted a conference on Greek-Israel business cooperation. Olga Kefalogianni, the Greek tourism minister, told the event – known as Mare Med III – that Greece and Israel share “deep historical roots and cultural proximity” and “can play a leading role in the future of tourism and regional cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
A BDS Greece spokesperson pointed out that the Athens government’s approach helps “normalize Israel as an ordinary commercial partner while its crimes against Palestinians continue.”
By doing so, Greece stands accused of accommodating a genocide.
* Camilla Donzelli is a freelance journalist based in Athens, Greece.
Published at electronicintifada.net
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