Meet The Man Who Didn’t Like His Country So He Started His Own

Eli Avivi is the self-declared President of a country known as Achzivland. The country borders Israel in each direction except where the land meets the Mediterranean Sea. Save for a few visiting travellers, Avivi and his First Lady, Rina, make up the total population of Achzivland. The country’s flag shows a

picture of a mermaid and its national anthem is said to be the sound of the sea. The two residents of this nation survive off donations to Achzivland’s national museum.

If this all sounds a little bit fanciful, then it might be worth mentioning that to Achzivland is not a real country in the legal sense, despite Avivi’s efforts.

Avivi discovered the place way back in 1952. It had previously served as a fishing village before the former residents fled to Lebanon, leaving it abandoned. So Avivi decided to move in and make himself at home. He lived a relatively simple life and caught a lot of fish. He and Rina made the place home and entertained guest often. One such guest was Sophia Loren. They led an idyllic lifestyle.

Then things changed. According to the BBC, in 1963, the Israeli government decided that they would make the area in to a national park and so began attempts to oust the couple. Of course, they refused vehemently and some reports even told of how Avivi suffered broken bones after a bulldozer struck down a wall upon which he stood in protest.

The government was unsuccessful on that occasion but came back a little under a decade later and erected a fence around the land. Avivi remained defiant however. He told BBC; “I have a lot of problems with the Israeli government,” he began. “They didn’t want me to live here and did everything they could to take me away from here. It was like a kind of war between the government and me”.

Avivi’s solution was not to take up the fight armed with lawyers or even weapons, but to simply tear up his passport and declare that he was no longer a citizen of Israel. He told the BBC that he is not against his former country, just some aspects of the way in which it is run.

“I love Israel the place, but not the government, because they never understood why I came here,” he said.

At the end of the day, a compromise was thankfully reached. The nations of Israel and Achzivland agreed that Avivi would pay the Israeli government for access to the beach whilst in exchange, the government would create and erect official tourist signage to encourage visitors to Achzivland.

So now, you can visit the place. And while it might not be officially recognised by Israel, it is recognised by those that matter; Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. Lonely Planet describes Achzivland as a “raggle-taggle outbuildings, a grassy camp ground, a sliver of gorgeous Mediterranean frontage, and a vast and rambling museum of knick-knacks”.

Some Trip Advisor users describe Avivi as an old hippy yet there are many glowing reviews of the place too. Whilst I am sure that many only visit to have their passport stamped, upon visiting, one Trip Advisor “felt like I had found a piece of paradise”.