Greece Neo-Nazi support increasing

(Haaretz)

In the lead-up to next week’s election, Greece's Jews are caught between a rock and a hard place: the political map is dominated by the anti-Zionist far-left, and a center-right that has moved to the extremes and is courting votes from neo-Nazis.

As the Greek financial crisis deepens and elections loom, the atmosphere in Greece is more tense than ever. 

Just last Thursday, an MP from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party violently attacked two left-wing female MPs live on national TV an Israeli journalist was beaten up by the same group in central Athens after taking pictures of their attacks on immigrants and a young medical school student shot and killed an Albanian robber who had broken into a few houses in his neighborhood and had threatened his mother. 

Fear and insecurity are setting in. Greeks feel increasingly desperate, and members of the small Jewish community in Greece are no exception. 

Most Greek Jews are employed in the private sector, or run small businesses. The community has not enjoyed the affluence that partly characterized it before the destruction of the Second World War. In the current climate, Jewish institutions will probably collapse if they don't receive financial assistance from the international Jewish community.