Byzantine Blog

Israel and Serbia Have a Shared Interest

On November 7, 2006, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Drašković ended a three-day official visit to Israel. He met with Israel’s top officials: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, his Deputy Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Binyamin Netanyahu, Chairman of the Likud, the main opposition party in the Israeli Knesset.

Drašković has also met Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu, who recently joined the Israeli coalition cabinet. Meeting Serbian Foreign Minister in the capacity of the Chairman of the Serbian-Israeli Friendship group in the Knesset, Mr. Lieberman asserted that “Israel should learn from Kosovo,” and added:

Israel and Serbia have a shared interest in creating a uniform code to deal with minorities. Kosovo is the true test case for the rest of the world… to see if the international community will try to coerce a solution or allow the two parties to reach an agreement on their own.

At the event organized by the Israeli International Relations Council, Vuk Drašković gave a lecture entitled “Serbs and Jews.” On Sunday Serbian Foreign Minister visited Yad Vashem, a memorial center near Jerusalem dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust, after which he met with the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff. Moved by the memory of Jasenovac (a Croatian concentration camp where over 750,000 Serbs and Jews were murdered) at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Minister Draskovic wrote in the Memorial’s book:

It is our responsibility to remember as long we are alive. To forgive? We do not have the right to forgive for those that are dead and murdered.

Israeli and Serbian Jerusalem

As a devout Christian, Minister Drašković used the opportunity to visit Jerusalem’s Old City, Nazareth and Galilee during his three-day stay, and meet with Orthodox Church representatives. Serbian Foreign Minister’s three-day visit did not include meeting with any of the Palestinian officials.

Conveying the Serbian view and official position to the Jerusalem Post, Drašković said that the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East is the stubborn refusal of certain Arab countries and organizations to recognize Israel’s right to exist:

I fully understand the fear of the Jewish people, because refusal to recognize the existence of Israel must remind Jews of the Holocaust and seem a demand for a new annihilation, and this couldn’t be a basis for negotiations.

Speaking of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Draskovic said Kosovo is Serbian Jerusalem because of its central place in Serbian history and religious tradition. Serbian Foreign Minister added Serbs could well understand the importance of recognition for Israel since the lack of recognition of Serbia’s territorial claims to Kosovo is the central cause of the conflict between the province’s Albanian Muslims and ethnically cleansed Serbs.

Israel Supports Serbia’s Position on Kosovo

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel supports Serbia’s negotiating position on the Kosovo status talks and is against any imposed solution. She has confirmed to Serbian reporters that “Israel supports a compromise agreement” on Kosovo status and that she was very interested in hearing all ideas that the Serbian side was willing to accept as an outcome in the talks.

Livni was grateful to Serbia for its offer to use its influence in the Islamic world to help bring about official recognition of the state of Israel as well as Serbia’s “clear condemnation of Iranian president’s comments on Israel.”

After a meeting with Draskovic, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel is ready for an economic offensive into Serbia that could bring in about $4 billion in investments. Draskovic confirmed that Israeli investment opportunities in Serbia are “practically limitless.”

At the conclusion of his official visit to Israel, Serbian Foreign Minister said he was fully satisfied with the talks and agreements achieved, especially with Israel’s response to his requests concerning Kosovo.