Under different circumstances, there would scarcely be a reasonable person who would object to one of Europe's biggest and most commercially successful basketball clubs, Maccabi Tel Aviv, using Cyprus as its home base and bringing some of the continent's most famous teams to the island as part of the EuroLeague.
There is also little doubt that, even under current circumstances, Maccabi's presence in Cyprus places the country on the European basketball map and provides both direct and indirect benefits for tourism.
Everyone understands that.
What people also understand, however, is the significant risk involved, the practical and other challenges that arise, and above all the serious questions raised by the speed and ease with which the Cypriot government, the President of the Republic and the Cyprus Police appear to have yielded to persistent pressure from the Israeli government to host the team.
As an Israeli club, Maccabi inevitably carries with it the realities facing its home country, a state involved in armed conflict and maintaining deeply hostile relations with several neighbouring peoples in a region where powerful and ruthless terrorist groups also operate.
Israelis are frequently targeted by terrorist attacks, and the regular presence in Cyprus of an Israeli team and thousands of its supporters raises major security concerns, both for them and for Cyprus, its citizens and the thousands of foreign visitors who travel to the island year-round.
Did those who approved this arrangement consider how much even a minor violent incident involving Israeli targets could cost the country and the damage it could cause to Cyprus' reputation as a safe tourist destination?
The most serious issue, however, concerns the practice of Israeli security authorities taking responsibility for protecting and monitoring Israeli citizens and interests wherever they may be.
The assurances offered by the Cyprus Police that foreign, in this case Israeli, security services will not be involved in security operations are unconvincing and appear almost laughable.
Everyone knows who will really be in charge and who will control the situation during the Israelis' presence here.
Everyone also knows and acknowledges that even if the Israelis were willing to leave the responsibility entirely to Cyprus, the Cyprus Police lack the capacity and capability to manage operations of such scale, complexity and risk on such a frequent basis.
Let us not pretend otherwise.
By yielding to Israeli pressure and demands, the government and the President are, in effect, surrendering and mortgaging elements of the Republic of Cyprus' sovereign authority and validating those who believe that Cyprus has long since become a country overly dependent on Israel.
