A new Israeli-owned kosher restaurant in Athens was vandalized over the weekend in what its owners said was an antisemitic attack, and which Greek authorities are treating as a likely hate crime.
King David Burger, which opened for business in the Greek capital in May, said in a post on social media on Sunday that at around 10 p.m. on Saturday, a group of six people entered the restaurant “and vandalized the place.”
The masked attackers threw fliers at diners and staff and graffitied anti-Israel slogans on walls and counters, including “No Zionist is safe here,” “Smash Zionism, fascism, colonialism,” and “Israel Death Forces — rapists, torturers, murderers.”
The graffiti can be seen clearly in video footage of the incident posted to the restaurant’s Instagram and TikTok pages.
The eatery, owned by Israeli businessman Tzvika Levinson, is located on the busy Ermou Road, just off the city’s central Syntagma Square, and markets itself as a fast-casual dining option for Athens’ Jewish residents and tourists alike.
“The restaurant displays kosher certification, clearly identifying it with Israel,” Levinson told Israel Hayom on Sunday.
He said that the vandals, whom he described as “pro-Palestinian anarchists,” carried out the attack within a matter of seconds, “making intervention impossible.”
Antisemitic vandalism seen at the King David Burger restaurant in Athens, Greece on July 12, 2025. (Screenshot/ Social media)
He noted that the only staff members in the restaurant at the time of the attack were Greek nationals, and that his only Israeli staff member “arrived after the incident had concluded.”
“When one employee attempted to leave, [the vandals] threatened him, saying, ‘If you come out, it’s over for you.’” Levinson told Israel Hayom.
Although he is currently in Israel, Levinson said he was in direct contact with the restaurant staff throughout the attack.
Levinson told the Israeli newspaper that suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack, which he said was being investigated as a hate crime. There was no announcement from Greek police.
However, police in Greece did announce that a leader of the Rouvikonas activist collective had been detained for questioning over a pro-Palestine march held on Friday, in which men wearing black uniforms emblazoned with the Palestinian flag marched through central Athens.
In the aftermath of the King David Burger attack, before the fliers had even been picked up off the ground, fans of the eatery turned out to show their support, footage published on the eatery’s social media pages showed.
“We wanted to say that such actions only strengthen us and the understanding of how much strength and unity our people have,” the restaurant said of the attack.
The eatery said that it was operating on Sunday as usual.
Antisemitic vandalism seen at the King David Burger restaurant in Athens, Greece on July 12, 2025. (Screenshot/ Social media)
Levinson urged the Athens municipality to take steps to prevent such an incident from happening again, noting the large number of Israelis in the Greek capital, which is home to a large Israeli expat community and a top tourism destination.
“Hebrew dominates conversation throughout this Athens neighborhood,” he said. “Over 5,000 Israelis visit daily. Losing this Israeli presence would be tragic.”
Athens has seen several attacks on Israeli tourists since October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, taking 251 hostages.
In February, a group of Israeli tourists was attacked on Ermou Road after they were overheard speaking Hebrew.
Last year, Greek police arrested seven people accused of planning to attack a synagogue and an Israeli-owned hotel in central Athens. The year before, Greece detained two people thought to have been sent by Iran to attack a kosher restaurant in the city.
The Israeli National Security Council’s current guidelines for travel to Greece put the country’s threat level at two, of a possible four, meaning Israelis and Jews are advised to take “increased precautionary measures” there.
Is The Times of Israel important to you?
If so, we have a request.
Every day, even during war, our journalists keep you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fast, fair and free coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So today, we have an ask: show your appreciation for our work by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.
Yes, I’ll give
Yes, I’ll give
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You appreciate our journalism
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘272776440645465’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
