CVIJANOVIĆ: I LOOK FORWARD TO RETURNING TO ISRAEL, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2021

JERUSALEM, JUNE 20 /SRNA/ – The Serb BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović says she is looking forward to visiting Israel and that her support for the country is based on a shared history of suffering and a commitment to historical truth.

“Republika Srpska consider Israel a friendly state,” Cvijanović said in an interview with the Jewish news agency Jerusalem News Syndicate /JNS/ ahead of her appearance at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. Cvijanović stressed she was pleased to be returning to Israel for the first time since 2021, where she plans to meet with senior Israeli officials, attend the MUNIEXPO conference in Tel Aviv, and revisit Yad Vashem. Cvijanović pointed to the historical experiences of Serbs and Jews during the Second World War, emphasizing that support for the Jewish people stems from a shared history, mutual understanding, and the sincere friendship emerged from one of the darkest periods in the history of both nations. Cvijanović specifically mentioned the Jasenovac Concentration Camp and the nearby execution site Donja Gradina, where large numbers of Serbs, Jews, and Roma were killed during the Holocaust. She also recalled a recent meeting in Donja Gradina with Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, U.S. special envoy on global antisemitism issuesm highlighting the shared suffering of Serbs and Jews during the Second World War. “We know that the State of Israel was established to ensure that such evil would never again be inflicted upon the Jewish people, therefore we unequivocally support its right to self-defence,” she said. Cvijanović also stated that Israel unquestionably has the right to defend itself following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. She expressed condolences to all civilian victims and stressed the importance of recognising how the current war in the region began. “As we all know, the conflict in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, with the horrific massacre of innocent civilians carried out by Hamas. We unequivocally support /Israel’s/ right to self-defence,” Cvijanović said. She also voiced opposition to the decision of the International Criminal Court in the Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She argued that the decision was being used as a tool of political pressure against Netanyahu and therefore represented a misuse of international law for political purposes. She said the decision gave the impression of an attempt to deny Israel its right to self-defence. “It was particularly hypocritical to make such a decision at a time when Israel was doing everything in its power to secure the return of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023,” Cvijanović said. Cvijanović emphasized that Republika Srpska would not participate in the implementation of that warrant.