photo: Rade Prelić / TanjugCEREMONY FAREWELL FOR THE FATHER OF ZIONISM, THEODOR HERZL, FATHER OF ZIONISM: The rise of Serbian-Israeli relations
If history is the teacher of life, then the curve of time confirms the long-lasting affection that the Serbs showed towards the Jews even before the creation of the State of Israel.
Modern Zionism has deep roots in Serbia from the time when the grandparents of Theodore Herzl lived in Zemun, the founder of the political and national movement that at the end of the 19th century started the struggle for the Jews to obtain a sovereign state in the biblical territory of Eretz Israel after centuries of persecution. One of the first theoreticians of Zionism, Rabbi Yehuda Alkalaj, was greatly inspired by the uprisings of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the Middle East at that time.
Incidentally, on November 2, 1917, Lord Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Minister, sent an official letter to Lord Walter Rothschild, one of the leaders of the Zionist community in Great Britain. The British government thereby for the first time publicly expressed its support for the creation of a "national home for the Jewish people" on the territory of Palestine, which was then still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, but after the collapse of the empire, the League of Nations entrusted Great Britain with the administration of Palestine. The foundation for the creation of the state of Israel was laid. The Government of the Kingdom of Serbia was the first in the world to officially and explicitly support the Balfour Declaration on December 24, 1917.
NEDIĆ'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE HOLOCAUST
These relationships have had their dark spots and fades, their ups and downs, and the dark period is the time of the start of World War II. Although it is often heard that there was never any anti-Semitism in Serbia, during the Quisling government of Milan Nedić and the "Government of National Salvation" in 1941-1944, the attitude towards Jews was marked by active complicity and the implementation of anti-Semitic policies dictated by the Nazi occupier. Although the deportations and executions were carried out by the German military and police forces, the Wehrmacht and the Gestapo, Nedic's administrative and police apparatus played a key role in logistical support for the execution of the Holocaust in occupied Serbia.
Nedić's government passed a series of decrees and "racial laws" that legalized the persecution of Jews: Jews were legally forbidden to work in government services, engage in liberal professions and attend university. During the competition for state jobs, a mandatory "Aryan clause" was introduced that the candidate must prove that he has no Jewish or Roma blood.
The Quislin municipal administration carried out a precise registration and census of the Jewish population. These lists were handed over to the Gestapo and were used for subsequent arrests and deportations. Within the Administration of the City of Belgrade, a special 7th Special Police Department was formed, which was in charge exclusively of Jews and Roma. Nedic's agents and gendarmes actively searched for Jews, arrested them and handed them over to the Germans.
Jews are a people with a long memory, and the Serbian authorities should not be carried away if they forgot about Belgrade's Autokomanda and Cannon sheds, one of the first camps where the Nazis executed 6.500 Jews and Roma in 1941. The location that should be a reminder of the years of the Shoa, as the Jews call the Holocaust, after 85 years has been completely neglected and consigned to oblivion. A small memorial plaque erected by the Jewish community is barely visible.
Nedic's regime economically destroyed the Jewish community even before its members were physically liquidated. Jews were forbidden to have bank accounts and all their movable and immovable property was confiscated. Through state authorities, the Nedic administration organized the sale and allocation of Jewish houses, apartments and businesses to the "Aryan" (Serbian and German) population.
At the same time, strong anti-Semitic and anti-communist propaganda was carried out through the regime's media. Jews were accused of starting the war, the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and organizing the uprising in Serbia. Nedić's Serbia became a collaborator in the Holocaust. If it hadn't been like that, the German administration wouldn't have already declared Belgrade and Serbia in August 1942 Judenfrei, liberated from the Jews.
photo: peđa vucković / tanjugTOUR OF WEIZMANN INSTITUTE, VICTIM OF ROCKET ATTACK: A. Brnabić in Israel
GET UP, SO FALLS
The end of World War II changed everything dramatically. During the First Israeli-Arab War of 1948-1949, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia played an important role in transporting weapons from Czechoslovakia to Israel through its territory, and it also participated in the direct supply of the emerging Israeli army. Herzl succeeded in his intention and the Balfour Declaration was finally realized, and the FNRJ was among the first countries in the world to recognize the State of Israel, just five days after its independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948.
Ups and downs. Diplomatic relations between the SFRY and Israel were completely severed on June 13, 1967, due to the Six-Day War, when Yugoslavia under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito took a firm stand in support of the non-aligned Arab countries and condemned the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Apartheid in South Africa and Zionism in Israel were the subjects of active criticism.
This lasted for more than two decades, until just before the breakup of Yugoslavia. Diplomatic relations with Israel were officially restored only in 1991, and in the spring of the following year, the Yugoslav embassy in Tel Aviv was reopened.
The wars that followed, especially the war in Bosnia, brought Serbia closer to Israel again, according to the principle the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Muslims were the link to the new rise of cooperation, both in Belgrade and Banja Luka. The Israeli embassy in Belgrade started working again in 1997.
Since then, Israel and Serbia have maintained a strong, friendly and constantly growing diplomatic, economic and, especially, military cooperation. When the progressives came to power, Serbia in the OUN avoided joining the condemnations of Israel. Support also comes through parallel channels from Milorad Dodik, who first opened Republika Srpska to growing Israeli influence.
Since he was appointed as the head of diplomacy in 2024, Marko Đurić has been designated as an advocate of Serbian-Israeli rapprochement. Not by chance: his grandmother on his mother's side is a Jew who survived Auschwitz, and Marko stayed in a kibbutz in his youth, where he learned Hebrew.
Relations have entered a strategic phase and are marked by significant Israeli investments and large defense contracts - from the sale of Serbian ammunition to Israel to the purchase of modern Israeli weapons and the joint production of drones to equipment for the security services.
photo: apIT IS NOT A SUBJECT NEITHER IN SERBIA OR IN ISRAEL: The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza
TWO-WAY MILITARY CONNECTIONS
The military sector is a key pillar of cooperation. In just two years, from the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the export of Serbian ammunition to Israel increased 42 times and reached 133 million dollars during 2025 and at the beginning of this year. All this despite the statement of President Aleksandar Vučić last June that Serbia is suspending all military exports. In the first two months of 2026 alone, there were 14 cargo flights to Israel, compared to 32 in all of 2025. Military ties are not one-way. At the end of 2024, Israel's "Elbit Systems" sold modern artillery systems, drones and equipment worth 335 million dollars to Serbia. The equipment was used by the authorities in Belgrade for mass surveillance of their opponents.
The partnership reached new heights when Vučić announced this year that the Serbian SDPR will open a joint drone factory with Elbit. The capital contract, signed in August, is worth 1,64 billion dollars and will provide Serbia, in addition to unmanned aerial vehicles, with long-range artillery-missile systems and equipment for electronic warfare. These jobs make up more than 70 percent of Serbia's military budget.
In mid-September, a state-of-the-art joint factory of combat drones will be opened in cooperation with this Israeli company. The 50:50 partnership integrates Israeli technology and Serbian engineering. Initially, highly sophisticated, advanced drones worth around 30.000 euros per piece will be produced. The confirmed model of the aircraft is the smaller tactical drone "lanius X", and the production of faster long-range drones, which fly at heights of over six kilometers, is also planned. The production is started in an already existing facility, and the Belgrade municipality Čukarica, the facility in Šimanovci or the Pančeva factory "Utva" are mentioned as locations.
In vain, protests were organized in Belgrade with the banners "Stop the export of weapons to Israel" and "Elbit's killers out of Serbia", and the joint project Elbit-SPDR was called "the factory of death". Many were detained.
In vain, in April, the Serbian authorities were called to join the boycott of Israel's contestants at the last Eurovision Song Contest.
Israel is undoubtedly satisfied because of the record arms contracts, military cooperation and mutual political services provided by Serbia, but not only because of that. While they protested massively in London, Berlin, Madrid or Rome because of the war in Gaza, the majority public of Serbia did not pay much attention to this year's demands of a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who demanded in Belgrade to end the alliance with Israel.
Unlike many countries, including Israel's Western European allies, official Belgrade has ignored all criticism that it contributes to the genocide of Palestinians, which is measured by the number of 74.000 killed (almost a third are children), more than 174.000 wounded and 90 percent of destroyed infrastructure.
Franceska Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, visited Belgrade this March and accused the authorities of "shamelessly cooperating with Israel" in violation of international humanitarian law and that Serbia could be investigated for supplying Israel with ammunition.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately retaliated, condemning the statement as "unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state".
The Israeli embassy accused the Albanians of anti-Semitism.
At that time, while the degree of alarm over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was growing in Europe, Minister Đurić praised Israel in Jerusalem as "one of the closest friends and a key strategic partner". "Tanjug" agency signed a cooperation agreement with TPS, a little-known Israeli right-wing media network founded in 2010.
As a sign of solidarity that many other countries avoided, Vučić's government symbolically offered Belgrade to host Israeli basketball players from the Euroleague who could not play at home for security reasons.
"Serbia is one of the very few countries in Europe that does not hesitate to cooperate with Israel. I am proud to say that publicly and openly," said Vučić in an interview with "Fox News" in June.
photo: Tanjug...
THE EINHORN CASE
It seems almost idyllic, but it is not without its problems. One of them, about whom official Serbia is persistently silent, is Srulik Einhorn, former spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former creative director of the Prime Minister's "Likud".
The Israeli police declared him a "criminal on the run" and as a key suspect they are looking for him for his involvement in the corruption scandal known as "Catargate" - the promotion of this Gulf emirate worth millions of dollars and his intermediary role during the hostage crisis in Gaza and spreading a negative image about Egypt.
Before the investigations into two more big affairs, Einhorn fled Israel and lives in Belgrade, where he owns a consulting firm. Momi Meshulam, a senior official of Israel's attorney general's office, came to Belgrade accompanied by members of the Lahav 433 police unit (Israeli FBI) to interrogate Einhorn in the building of the Ministry of Justice of Serbia, which was done under the veil of confidentiality. "The door is slammed in her face," the Israeli liberal daily Haaretz quoted an unnamed official as saying in February. "Serbia refuses to cooperate with the Israeli authorities."
In the meantime, certain processes against Einhorn's associates in Israel have been temporarily suspended until he is available to their law enforcement authorities.
Einhorn is a media strategist and marketing expert close to Vučić, and has been active in political campaigns in Serbia since 2020. He was especially hired to portray the president in the most favorable light in the West, primarily in the USA. Investigations by Byrne and "Haaretz" indicate that he provided intermediary services regarding the export of Serbian ammunition and weapons to Israel during the military operations in Gaza.
Einhorn continues to capitalize on the close ties between Belgrade and Tel Aviv. The fact that, by all accounts, he will not be extradited to Israel, Vucic is a favor to Netanyahu, who is himself facing three court trials for corruption.
SHOCK IN THE OVAL ROOM
Closeness on the military front is not adequately accompanied by closeness on the economic level, although Israeli investments in Serbia exceed two billion euros. Traditionally, they are most dominant in the commercial real estate sector, while recently they have seen strong growth in the areas of renewable energy sources and high IT technology.
According to statistical data from Belgrade, the volume of bilateral trade reached a modest 285,6 million dollars, although it is one of the rare ones in which Serbia realizes a surplus of some 160 million. During this year's "strategic summit" in Jerusalem, the head of Serbian diplomacy, Đurić, began discussions on the Free Trade Agreement. A joint economic committee was also established, and Israel opened a permanent trade representative office in Belgrade and confirmed participation in the Expo 2027 exhibition.
Politically, things are more complicated. Israel recognized the independence of Kosovo, to the visible surprise of President Vučić, who heard the announcement of the recognition while sitting on a chair in front of Donald Trump in the Oval Room of the White House on September 4, 2020. It was an American concession to the then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Abdullah Hoti, who came to a meeting dedicated to the economic normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and ended with the agreement for Serbia to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to be among only eight countries, including Kosovo, that would move their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That has not happened so far.
Israel's recognition of Kosovo was an unexpected blow to Belgrade, but bilateral relations quickly recovered. Vučić is trying in every way to strengthen his ideological closeness with the right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, not only because of bilateral cooperation, weapons and investments, but also as a route to get closer to the American president.
Vučić strongly resented the American by trying to enter uninvited at a Republican donor dinner that was held in early May 2025 at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private residence in Florida. After the fiasco, he quickly returned to Belgrade, and the official explanation of the authorities and pro-state media was that Vučić fell ill during the visit.
The alliance with Israel is consolidated by visits to the high nova. Vučić visited Israel as Prime Minister in December 2014, and since then he has met with the Israeli leader many times at various global summits. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in Belgrade in September 2024, when he handed Vučić an invitation to visit Israel again.
Relations between Serbia and Israel today are marked by a high and rapidly growing degree of strategic partnership, supported by record military deals and economic investments. The episode with Israel's recognition of Kosovo's independence was quickly forgotten in Belgrade, which became one of the closest European allies of the Jewish state.
The cooperation between the two countries shows a high degree of pragmatism. Prime Minister Netanyahu is extremely reliant on Trump and the strategic alliance with the US, as seen during the two joint aggressions against Iran. Vučić, unlike the Israeli, maintains "historic ties" with Russia, although increasingly difficult, and tries to balance between America and China, the two biggest rivals of the modern world.
Despite this, the ideological ties between the two right-wing national-populists and demagogues are flourishing. Cooperation is on the rise. Moses is Moses, business is business, says an old Jewish saying.
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