Israeli Tourist In Cyprus Loses Eye After Brutal Assault While He Was Speaking Hebrew

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An Israeli man was attacked over the weekend outside the hotel where he was staying in Limassol, Cyprus.

The victim’s father told Israel’s Kan News that the assault occurred while his son was speaking on the phone in Hebrew on Friday. According to him, while the son, who was on a post-army trip, was talking on the phone in Hebrew, a man approached him, asked for a cigarette, and then attacked him. He was evacuated to a local hospital and was flown to Israel on Sunday, where he underwent surgery on his eye but lost his eyesight in that eye. The Foreign Ministry is examining the details of the incident.

In a Facebook post published by the father, he wrote: “My son was attacked at the entrance to a hotel in Cyprus, and everyone disappears. My son, a young Israeli, was violently attacked at the entrance to the hotel where he was staying in Cyprus. Not on the street, not in a bar. At the entrance to the hotel, a place that is supposed to be safe and secure. He was brutally beaten, injured in the head and face, and evacuated for medical treatment.”

“But what is no less shocking is what happened afterward. We contacted the relevant authorities, including the Israeli consulate, and the response we received was: ‘Sunday- we’re on vacation.’ When an Israeli citizen is injured abroad after a violent attack, the system is simply unavailable. There is no taking responsibility, no response. No sense of backing. There is documentation, there are medical records, and there are witnesses,” he said.