(Communicated by the President’s Spokesperson)
On Monday, December 22, 2025, President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece visited the family of Ionas “Yona” Karussis, a 26-year-old architecture student who was murdered in a terror attack in Jaffa in October 2024. President Herzog and Prime Minister Kyriakos expressed their condolences to Ionas’s parents, Professor Dimitrios Karussis and Dr. Ourania Karussis, Greek citizens who made their home in Jerusalem.
President Isaac Herzog:
“Welcome, dear Prime Minister, to Jerusalem. We are in the home of the Karussis family, whose son, Ionas, was murdered by terrorists last year in Jaffa, and we feel that there’s a bridge here of Israelis and Greeks.
“The relationship between Israel and Greece has grown dramatically, and you’re here for a trilateral meeting, also with Cyprus. I think we can develop the Eastern Mediterranean in a very substantial way for the benefit of all nations of the region, including our neighbors, the Palestinians, and, of course, the Arab states, going all the way to India. This has huge potential for so many things that humanity wants to see.
“But the fact that we are here in this home tells us and reminds us that we have to fight our enemies, and we have to change the reality in the region for a better future so that beautiful flowers like Ionas will not be killed by terrible people that surround us. Thank you for coming, and welcome to Israel.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis:
“Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you to the Karussis family for being so kind to open up their house welcoming us today. Ionas’s assassination was a tragic event which reminds us of the necessity to fight terrorism in all its forms. And I want, again, to offer to the parents of Ionas our full support. We plan next year to fund a scholarship in his memory, and I know that his life might have been cut short by this horrible terrorist, but he left behind him a legacy of goodness, and his memory will live on.
“The Karussis family is a bridge of friendship between our two countries. Rest assured, Mr. President, that the strategic relationship between Greece and Israel has never been stronger. And if you include also Cyprus, as you said, you have three countries that are working together for a peaceful and stable Eastern Mediterranean. And this should be the hope of all of us, especially as we come towards Christmas, a celebration of peace and friendship. This is the spirit that we want present in this part of the world.”