The King David Burger restaurant in Athens, a newly opened kosher eatery popular with visiting Israelis, was vandalised on Saturday night by anti-Israel activists. The attack occurred just 12 minutes after Shabbat ended, according to owner Zvika Levinson, who told The Jerusalem Post: “I was shocked. It has taken us by surprise,” reports The Jerusalem Post.
The group entered the restaurant shouting antisemitic and anti-Israel slogans such as: “Go back to Israel” and “Stop killing babies.”
They also threatened staff, reportedly telling one employee: “Stay there if you don’t want to be injured.”
The vandals threw flyers with “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the Palestinian resistance” printed in English and Greek, featuring keffiyeh imagery. They sprayed graffiti on the walls, including the phrase: “No Zionist is safe here.”
Restaurant manager Sivan said the employees, who are not Israeli, were terrified by the incident. “They are not used to this,” she said, expressing frustration that police were nearby but took 15 minutes to respond. “They didn’t care. They didn’t even put on masks,” added Levinson of the vandals.
Three officers from the hate crime unit eventually arrived and took statements. Still, police told the restaurant that unless the group is identified, no action would be taken—a response Sivan called “very upsetting.”
Despite the attack, Israeli patrons who arrived later chose to sing and dance, chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” in defiance.
The restaurant, which opened six weeks ago, caters to the large number of Israeli tourists in Athens, particularly in Ermou Street, a busy shopping district where Hebrew is frequently heard.
“This kind of thing will affect Israelis,” Levinson warned. “The mayor will have a lot of things to lose if he doesn’t prevent things like this.”
As of publication, the Mayor of Athens and local police had not commented on the incident.
Photo Credit: KING DAVID BURGER
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