Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Cohen: Serbia is our biggest ally in this region

Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen, emphasized in an interview for Politika that Serbia was and would remain Israel's strongest ally in this region, and stating that when it comes to Kosovo, Israel has relations with all of Serbia's neighbors. He says that Tel Aviv is closely monitoring the events in region and hope that the negotiations will result in mutual understanding for the benefit of the region.

Israel is among the last countries to recognize Kosovo's independence, while Israel and Kosovo established diplomatic relations in 2021, to which Cohen says that his visit to Belgrade aims to strengthen Israeli-Serbian relations, deepen cooperation and discuss bilateral, regional and global issues.

"The Western Balkans is an important region, especially when we take into account today's challenges. I believe that our countries should intensify dialogue and cooperation in order to face these challenges together. When it comes to Kosovo, Israel has relations with all your neighbors. We are closely following happenings in your region and we hope that the negotiations will result in mutual understanding for the benefit of the region," Cohen said.

He points out that Israel is really proud of the special ties of the Jewish and Serbian people throughout history.

"We have shared both happy and challenging moments, and I hope that we will do our best to build a prosperous and bright future for our two nations for the sake of future generations. I am sincerely happy that I am in Serbia for the first time, in a friendly country that is and which will remain the strongest ally of the State of Israel in the region," said Eli Cohen, who is in Serbia today as the first head of Israeli diplomacy to visit Serbia after more than a decade.

He points out that last year 30 years since Serbia were marked and Israel renewed diplomatic relations and adds that he hopes that everyone will do their best to build a prosperous and bright future for the two nations.

 

As he states, aware of the numerous similarities between Serbia and Israel and the two nations, he firmly believes that Serbia and Israel should work together to reach the full potential of economic cooperation.

He adds that in this sense, stronger business relations should be built in the fields of biotechnology and cyber security, artificial intelligence, science and innovation, agriculture, and more should be invested in the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

He points out that Israel deeply appreciates the enormous efforts of the Government of Serbia to preserve significant places of remembrance, regarding the issue of restitution of Jewish property, as well as in the field of education about the Holocaust.

"I hope that our bilateral and economic relations will have an upward trend from now on thanks to more frequent official visits," he said.

Speaking about the war in Ukraine and how Israel has remained consistent in not supplying arms to Ukraine despite criticism from Kiev, Cohen says that since the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine, Israel has clearly stood by Ukraine.

As he states, that attitude is expressed through support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as Israel's support for condemnations in international institutions.

Also, according to Cohen, Israel has sent extremely large humanitarian aid to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, more than any other international aid has been provided to any other country.

"We sent them electric generators, food, winter equipment, water purifiers and a field hospital. In addition, Israel is developing a public alert system for Ukraine aimed at saving the lives of Ukrainian citizens," he said.

In response to Politika's journalist's statement that Israel also maintains ties with Russia, Cohen states that Russia is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, numbering almost 600,000 people.

"The connection between the State of Israel, the national homeland of the Jewish people, and the large Jewish community in Russia is crucial and we are doing everything in our power to preserve it. In addition, Russia plays an important role in the Syrian situation. Iran has been trying to establish its presence in Syria for years and to transfer weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Israel maintains an open dialogue with Russia to preserve its national security and interests due to Iran's destructive presence on Israel's northern border," Cohen said.

Responding to a question about massive anti-government protests in Israel over changes to judicial laws, Cohen says Israel is a strong and stable democracy.

He reports that there is currently a broad public debate in the Knesset, the media, and even through demonstrations, about important changes concerning the balance between the judiciary and the executive.

"The majority of public opinion supports changes to the legal system and I hope that during the dialogue between the parties we will be able to reach agreements. In any case, I attach great importance to the necessary changes to the legal system," he adds.

In response to criticism of the US for building Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Cohen says that the United States is Israel's most important ally, and that their friendship is based on shared values and similar views on the world.

"Over the years, there were things we didn't quite agree with the American government, but we still managed to maintain good and close ties between our two countries. And the previous governments also built in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue to develop and build in that area. It is important to clarify that construction in Judea and Samaria is not an obstacle to peace. We have proven this in the past, both with the withdrawal from Gaza and the withdrawal from Sinai. The real obstacles to peace are Palestinian terrorism, hatred and education that encourages anti-Semitism", Cohen explains.

He adds that the Palestinian Authority is the only place in the whole world where murderers are encouraged to kill and explains that a Palestinian terrorist who kills an Israeli citizen knows that he will receive a salary for the rest of his life and that this salary increases in proportion to the number of Israelis he kills.

"It is a terrible policy that must be stopped. It is unbelievable that the Palestinians provide such a clear message of support for the killing of Jews," he said.

He adds that the city of Jenin has become a hotbed of terrorism and that since the beginning of the year 52 Israelis have been killed in terrorist attacks, and more than 50 attacks originated from Jenin.

"The operation in Jenin was not directed against the Palestinians, but against the terrorist organizations there. The Israeli security forces took all precautions to avoid harming innocent civilians, and the results of the operation confirm this. Twelve Palestinians were killed during the operation in Jenin, and all of them were terrorists killed during the fighting," he said.

When asked if there can be peace in the West Bank, Cohen says that he firmly believes in peace and that Israel has made many efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians, including the withdrawal from Gaza.

However, he adds, it is impossible to build peace when the other side educates its schoolchildren for violence.

"In recent years, several reports of the European Union have been published in which Palestinian school textbooks are analyzed. The reports present a problematic reality in which students of the Palestinian education system are educated for violence, terrorism and anti-Semitism. It is impossible to build peace when the other side educates its future generations in such a way", concludes Cohen.