Dragisic: The arrival of Israeli clubs in Belgrade is a positive gesture that will contribute to Serbia's reputation in the world

Professor Zoran Dragisic from the Faculty of Security does not expect that due to the basketball matches of Israeli clubs in Belgrade, the hostilities between Palestine and Israel will spill over to Serbia. He believes that the decision for Maccabi and Hapoel basketball teams to be 'hosts' in Belgrade is a positive gesture that will contribute to the reputation of Serbia in the world, Danas writes.

'I don't expect that due to the matches of Israeli clubs in Belgrade, Hamas will cease fighting in the Gaza Strip and move their combat operations to Belgrade. Such a scenario can only be imagined by people with an extremely vivid imagination,' Dragisic said.

Just a day after the start of the conflict in Gaza, KK Partizan offered Maccabi from Tel Aviv to play their 'home' matches in the Euroleague at the 'Aleksandar Nikolic' Hall. In the meantime, it was decided that Israel's Hapoel would also play their FIBA league matches in the same hall, with Serbian expert Aleksandar Dzikic as their coach.

Let's recall that Partizan basketball players won the Champions Cup in the 1991/92 season as a 'home' team from Fuenlabrada.

Spanish media were openly irritated when they saw the immense support Partizan received from the stands in the 'Fernando Martin' hall during matches against genuine, local clubs.

A moving documentary film was made about this phenomenon of being a 'guest host', commemorating the anniversary of winning the European title - 'Partizan from Fuenlabrada'.

In the same season, FC Red Star went on to defend its European title as a host in Sofia and Budapest.

But, such a gesture to help sports friends in trouble has stirred our people, making them fearful that the visit of Israeli clubs might worsen the security situation in our country, even potentially leading to terrorist attacks in Serbia, provoked by such a move.

'It won't', Professor Zoran Dragisic from the Faculty of Security in Belgrade said.

According to him, first and foremost, the fact that Belgrade will host Israeli clubs that cannot play matches in their country due to the war is a good and positive thing, especially considering that we have gone through sanctions and sports sanctions.

"I see this as a positive gesture that will contribute to the rise of Serbia's reputation in the world. It's an act that deserves every respect," Professor Dragisic believes.

As for security concerns, in his words, unfortunately, today, every sporting event represents a potential security risk.

"The playing of Israeli teams in Serbia may incite certain Islamist terrorists to violence. This is not new because we have been under the attack of these groups since the 1990s. Serbia, with this gesture, has shown that it is not afraid of them and that we have no problem hosting Israeli athletes and having them as hosts in Belgrade," Dragisic emphasizes, adding that as someone for whom security is a profession, he would always support such a move.

In his opinion, apart from the fact that the political reputation of our country will rise worldwide, on the other hand, we will not lose a single friend because of this gesture.

"Because Islamist terrorists cannot be our friends. Those who did what they did in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Metohija, and what they are now planning to do in the Balkans, are not our friends, and we should not feel any responsibility towards them. On the other hand, we are showing that we are not afraid of them and that our security services and police are strong enough to ensure the smooth running of these events. Israeli basketball players and visiting athletes they will host in Belgrade can feel completely safe because Serbia is a strong enough state to ensure that security," he said.

When asked about the potential types of attacks and dangers that could really be expected in Belgrade, ranging from incidents to terrorist attacks, he assessed:

"These groups might eventually try to provoke incidents that would prevent the matches from taking place, or organize protests and demonstrations in Belgrade, but our services have enough knowledge, expertise, and capacity to prevent even such, let alone more serious attacks".

For the ever "well-informed" neighborhood social media circles that immediately bring up Mossad, he says:

"I don't think that there can be a 'spillover' of the war conflicts here. Israeli teams will be secured primarily by their police - Yamas and special police. Mossad, which is always the first word on the lips of our people when it comes to these conflicts, will not be concerned with that at all. Those 'sources' certainly have no idea how the Israeli security system, which is one of the best in the world, functions. So, from that perspective - that a war between Palestinians and Israelis will now start here in Belgrade, is really impossible, even in the wildest imagination," he's sure.

Dragisic reminds that the security of Israeli athletes will be the responsibility of both ours and Israeli services.

"Cooperation in that sense will be at the highest level. And from this joint work, we can benefit ourselves because, with the help of Israeli services, we will have the opportunity to identify potential threats to our country. We know that there are cells of these groups here because people from the Balkans, fortunately, least from Serbia, joined the ranks of ISIS (Islamic State). If someone thinks we are defenseless against Islamist terrorists who are now killing civilians in Gaza, they are deeply mistaken. Those who think they can 'soften them up' should just look at a pile of archive footage and documents showing what these same people did in Bosnia in the early and mid-1990s and in Kosovo in the late 1990s," he notes.

In his opinion, with this gesture, Serbia has also shown deep friendship towards the Jewish people with whom we suffered together during World War II.

"We must not forget that Jews, Roma people, and Serbs were the target of these same ideologies that are now holding hostages and that killed civilians in Israel on October 7," Dragisic concluded.