Those relations could not be better. Serbia is now the most pro-Israel country in Europe, in part due to the work of President Aleksandar Vucic. Of course a similar history helps. Both Serbia and Israel have suffered from Muslim aggression. Christian Serbia endured the long rule of the Muslim Ottoman Turks, and Israel has had to fight three wars for its very survival against Muslim Arab aggressors. More on Vucic’s, and Serbia’s, steadfast support for the Jewish state, can be found here: “Vucic: Serbia helped supply Israel with arms after Oct. 7, despite European criticism – exclusive,” by Alex Winston, Jerusalem Post, June
Belgrade’s New Palace has seen a lot. Since construction began in 1911, it has witnessed empires disintegrate, monarchies rise and fall, Nazi occupation, the coming of the Communists, the revival of Serb nationalism. Nowadays, it is the seat of the president of Serbia.
On a beautiful morning inside the gilded halls of the presidential palace, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is calm and reflective. Having governed Serbia since 2017, he knows that his time will soon come to an end thanks to Serbia’s two-term presidential limit, but he still has much work to accomplish….
In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas massacres in southern Israel, few world leaders reacted as swiftly and decisively as Vucic. Within 24 hours, he had received a message from President Isaac Herzog. Within four days, despite a bureaucratic maze of international defense protocols, Vucic had Serbia ready to respond.
“On the 8th, in the evening, we got a message from Israel. ‘We need this and that. We were not absolutely ready, we need it as soon as possible,’” Vucic recalled to the Post.
“I used to be minister of defense and I know how it goes – licenses from the different ministries, security intelligence agencies, more governmental and nongovernmental bodies…. And we collected everything within four days, and we did it. It has never been achieved before in this country.”
Since that moment, defense ties between Belgrade and Jerusalem have rapidly deepened. Serbian arms exports to Israel reached €42.3 million in 2024, according to a joint report by Balkan Insight and Haaretz (based on customs data) – a thirtyfold increase from the previous year. Serbia became a vital link in Israel’s defense supply chain.
“I am the only one in Europe today dealing in military ammunitions with Israel,” Vucic declared. “And it is why I am often criticized by colleagues.”…
Despite the pressure, Vucic remains unwavering. “In Serbia, the situation will always remain the same. We will always appreciate, respect, and like the Jewish people and Israel. That’s what I really mean, that’s what I really feel.”…
Serbia’s exports to Israel are remarkably diverse, ranging from automotive parts, gas turbines, and machinery to agricultural goods and finished chemical products. Serbian imports from Israel focus on hi-tech goods, medical and optical equipment, aviation components, and tropical produce. Meanwhile, people-to-people connections have deepened, with Israeli tourism to Serbia rising 73% in early 2025, and overnight stays jumping 86.5%….
The enormous increase in Israeli tourists visiting Serbia makes perfect sense. You travel where you are welcome. Prior to Erdogan, Israeli tourists flocked to Turkey. Now they go instead to Serbia.
Vucic’s own views and affinity have been influenced by both his family’s suffering and that of the Serb people. He has revealed in the past how his grandfather was murdered by Ustase[Ustashi] in World War II, Croatians who formed a puppet state under the Nazis and carried out atrocities on Jews, Serbs, and Roma people….
The Croatian Ustashe was a pro-Nazi paramilitary group that ruled the fascist puppet state of Croatia from 1941 to 1945. The Ustashe fought on the side of the Germans, against the anti-Nazi Serbs. The Ustashe set up a concentration camp at Jasenovac, where almost 100,000 Serbs and Jews were murdered.
He sees Serbia and Israel as kindred nations….
Both the Serbs and the Jews suffered from Muslim aggression: the Serbs who lived for centuries under oppressive Ottoman Turkish rule, when the devshirme was in force, with every tenth Serbian male child taken away to serve in the Ottoman sultan’s army, and the Jews of Israel who for the entire life of their country have had to fight against Muslim Arab aggression.
Israel deserves to have many more friends like Serbia. And many more European countries deserve to have leaders like Aleksandar Vucic.
somehistory says
Some people….very few today….know how to distinguish right from wrong and have the moral courage and integrity to choose *right.*
This is especially True because the forces of evil are fighting vigorously to defeat mankind, and those who fight back, have to be the best.
This man knows he’s on the side of *right* and that says a lot as to why he can stand up to his critics.
Was it Davy Crocket who said, “Be sure you’re right; then go ahead”?
Hugh Fitzgerald says
No. It was Fess Parker. And I have my coonskin cap to prove it.
somehistory says
He was playing Davy as he also played Daniel Boone.
It’s good advice from whoever might have said it.
Taffy says
“Serbia is now the most pro-Israel country in Europe…”
I would say arguably the most pro-Israel country in Europe. Orban’s Hungary in my opinion takes the spot, but the weighing factors may be different.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Orban’s Hungary is also an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States, where Turkey is the main driver. That makes it an open question of which side he’d take on Turkey vs Israel. As it is, Turkey took the side of Azerbaijan against Armenia
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I believe the stage for that was set when Trump got both Serbia and Kosovo to establish diplomatic relations w/ Israel (in case of Kosovo) and move both their embassies to Jerusalem
I wish that Russia, which was at least politically supportive of Serbia, or used to be at least, would extend the same courtesy to Israel, and stop backing Iran
Mano says
Ratko Miladic and Radovan Karadic are the best