Israel deepens ties with Bosnian Serb separatists
Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Galit Peleg, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Milorad Dodik attend the inauguration of the Israel Chamber of Commerce representative office in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, September 3rd, 2026.
Despite growing condemnation of cooperation with Israel, Bosnian Serbs have deepened ties with Israel, according to Middle East Eye and agencies on September 5th.
On September 3rd, Israeli officials opened an Israeli Chamber of Commerce in Banja Luka, the economic, political and administrative hub of the Republika Srpska, a Christian-majority region that Serb separatists want to secede from Bosnia.
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli attended the ceremony; Chikli has supported ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza amid Israel’s genocidal war.
Galit Peleg, Israel’s ambassador to Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, attended the ceremony and received a medal from Republic President Sinisa Karan.
Milorad Dodik, the former Republic President, also attended; Chikli described Dodik and the Republika Srpska as “true friends of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Like Jewish Israelis, Serb nationalists have a history of advocating for violence against Muslims, namely the Bosniaks, during the 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia; Israel supplied arms to Serbian forces during this time.
Between 1992 and 1995, ethnic Serbs sought to establish a “Greater Serbia” by ethnically cleansing non-Serbs.
This mirrors the “Greater Israel” plan, where Israel seeks to expand its borders into the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria’s Golan Heights, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, parts of Jordan and Lebanon.
Since 2023, Serbian arms exports to Israel have reached record levels, despite concerns about complicity in war crimes amid Israel’s wars on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
According to Serbia’s Ministry of Trade, ammunition was sold to Ta’as Ma’arachot, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence contractor.
Israeli arms exports reached record levels in 2025, with Europe accounting for 36% of exports.
Growing European-Israeli defence cooperation is linked to security concerns about Russia.
Serb-Israeli partnerships mirror Israeli-Indian relations, as Hindu nationalists have also sought defence cooperation with Israel under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India is reportedly the world’s largest purchaser of Israeli weapons, with Israeli defence contractors, including Elbit Systems, operating across the country.
The Indian government also encourages Hindu settlement in occupied Kashmir, similar to how Israel encourages Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reportedly, ties between Israel and the Republika Srpska have persisted for 15 years.
In 2011, the Republic contributed to blocking Bosnia and Herzegovina from recognising a Palestinian State at the UN.
The Republic comprises 49% of Bosnian territory; the entity’s establishment in 1992 as an independent “Republic of the Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina” triggered war in Bosnia.
Middle East Eye and agencies, Al Jazeera and agencies, Maghrebi.org
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
