Those words he will never forget described how the four members of the Bachar family locked themselves in the safe room when terrorists broke into the kibbutz, how Avida struggled to prevent them from opening the door, how the human savages surrounding the room began shooting and throwing grenades into the safe room, and how the stunned and wounded father saw his wife and son dead before his eyes, and his daughter wounded.

Outside the house, after embracing Bachar, the president was asked if he wanted to provide a statement to the media, and he replied with simplicity and honesty so rare in politicians, "I cannot. How can one speak after what I just heard?" After a few moments, he gestured toward Gaza and remarked, "No coexistence is possible with them, with those who came to murder innocent people and with those who support murderers."

The president of Republika Srpska did not need his current visit to Israel to learn who stands against whom in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is well-versed in the facts and details, and especially brave and determined to recognize the cause that has fueled the conflict for about 150 years – the hatred and desire to destroy Israel.

Dodik has supported Israel for many years, but the October 7 massacre greatly sharpened his position and established him as one of the clearest voices for the Jewish state. Immediately after the massacre, he ordered the presidential building in Banja Luka, the capital of the Republic, to be illuminated in blue and white. "Just think about it – on that very day, the Serbian entity's presidential building in Bosnia displayed the Israeli flag, while the government building in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia's Muslim entity and the capital of the entire country, displayed the terrorists' flag – the Palestinian flag," Dodik (66) notes in an exclusive conversation with Israel Hayom, revealing some of the complexity that has surrounded his country since its establishment.

Bosnia is indeed a unique country unlike any other in the world. Following the Balkan wars, and with the declared goal of preventing bloodshed, three population groups were brought together into a single state framework – Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats. To prevent confrontations, and especially to avoid resolving disputes through weapons, the forces were separated – the Serbian region, called Republika Srpska, was granted extensive autonomy. At the head of the united state stands a collective body, a presidency composed of three representatives from the three population groups.

The president of Republika Srpska did not need his current visit to Israel to learn who stands against whom in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is well-versed in the facts and details, and especially brave and determined to recognize the cause that has fueled the conflict for about 150 years – the hatred and desire to destroy Israel.

On the surface, according to the utopian vision of European Union and US representatives who created Bosnia from nothing, the division of powers was supposed to lead to reconciliation. Important decisions, the project's initiators dreamed, would only be made by consensus, no one would impose anything on others, and the afflicted Balkans would be redeemed. In practice, the noble goal was only partially achieved. The guns have indeed been silent in Bosnia for more than 30 years, but the ancient hatreds have not gone anywhere. To a large extent, united Bosnia is a fiction, and Dodik's example of contrasting solidarity expressions to the October 7 massacre illustrates this well. While Bosnia's Serbs stood with Israel as their president directed, the Muslims did not hesitate to support the killers.

"It didn't end with projecting the PLO flag on the government building in Sarajevo," Dodik adds, describing a series of demonstrations supporting Hamas and Hezbollah held in Muslim Sarajevo. "With us in Banja Luka, and throughout Republika Srpska, such a thing could not happen. Support for Israel is absolute."

Iran is not just your problem

Two opposing trends are evident not only in symbolic identification. More than a decade ago, when Bosnia was a member of the UN Security Council and the Palestinian Authority sought international recognition as a state, Bosnia's vote was decisive. The Muslims naturally wanted to support it, but Dodik, representing Republika Srpska, said no. Since foreign policy decisions are supposed to be made by consensus, this effectively meant a veto, and the Palestinian Authority's move was thwarted.

However, the Muslims have also learned to block Dodik's support for Israel. When he publicly proposed moving Bosnia's embassy to Jerusalem, as US President Donald Trump did, it was the Bosniaks' turn to say no.

While the embassy move didn't happen, Dodik has no doubt that Israel's capital is Jerusalem, and that Trump was right. In general, the president of Republika Srpska is a great supporter of the current White House president, and this affinity has a long history. "I didn't hide my support for him even before he was first elected in November 2016, and I paid a heavy price for it," Dodik recalls. "When Trump won the first election, I was supposed to fly to his inauguration ceremony, and two days before the flight, the outgoing Barack Obama administration imposed sanctions on me – a clear political punishment from a Democratic president for my public support of his Republican rival."

Since those days, Dodik has also "earned" sanctions from President Biden, who went further and included the entire political leadership of Republika Srpska and even Dodik's family members on the sanctions list. Hamas and Hezbollah supporters on the Muslim side of Bosnia – how surprising – were not treated similarly. No sanctions were imposed on them.

However, if someone in Democratic circles in the US estimated that punitive measures would break Dodik or force him to fall in line, the assessment proved completely mistaken. During the last election campaign in the US, he again openly supported Trump, and did so with natural, genuine enthusiasm. He walked around wearing the red cap with "Make America Great Again" written on it and showered the Republican candidate and his platform with abundant praise. At the same time, he asked Serbs living in the US last November to vote for Trump, partly because he "will protect family values and other conservative values." After the election, this support did not diminish one bit, even though the Republican administration has not yet moved to lift the sanctions on Dodik.

Q: Do you also support Trump's plan for the Gaza Strip?

"Certainly. His proposal is so logical and correct. Gaza's hostile population needs to go elsewhere. They have shown their nature, we've seen what they want to do to you, even though Israel's hand has always been extended in peace. On October 7, they came to murder innocent, unarmed people who just wanted to live, to celebrate life. When visiting Kibbutz Be'eri or the Nova party site in Re'im, one understands the monstrous nature of the horrific crime committed there. The extremism of Gaza's Arabs brought tragedy to the border communities, but also shattered Gaza and the Western illusion that one can live alongside it in peace and sweep the problem under the rug. After such a massacre, one cannot live beside them, and that's why I support Trump's plan."

Q: Do you find expressions of Islamist extremism in the Balkans as well?

"Absolutely. Hamas and ISIS flags at demonstrations in Sarajevo weren't just symbols – they conveyed a political message. Islamists are not looking for coexistence, they aspire to impose their will and ideology on others. And they still dare to make false accusations against Israel, the victim of the massacre, of committing 'genocide.' For a long time, we have suffered from aggression that resembles what you are experiencing. Iran, for example, is not just Israel's problem. For years, it has served as the main sponsor of extreme Islamic organizations in Sarajevo."

"Know suffering and freedom"

Dodik's concerns are firmly rooted in facts. Extreme Islam has taken root in the Muslim part of Bosnia, and while it's still clearly the domain of a minority among Bosniaks, the trend is frightening. Investigations of attacks carried out by Islamists across Europe have revealed that in many cases, the trails led to Bosnia. Unfortunately, Shiite Iran is no longer the only one sending its poisonous tentacles to the Muslim regions of the Balkan country. Erdogan's Turkey is competing with it for primacy. In this competition, the level of extremism and brainwashing only rises, and that's before mentioning the corrupting influence of Qatar's Al Jazeera, which broadcasts throughout the Balkans in local languages.

No wonder that in the situation created, President Dodik finds many parallels between the situation of Jews in the Middle East and the situation of Serbs in Bosnia, "Just as Israel does not allow any external factor to dictate when and how it should protect its people, we also reject the idea that those who do not respect us will decide our security matters. Security is not a matter of compromise – it is a matter of survival."

Q: What are you trying to learn from Israel?

"We learn from Israel the meaning of determination, unity, and belief in its strength. Benjamin Netanyahu and the people in Israel demonstrate what every free nation needs – the determination for self-defense when necessary, regardless of the price. This determination didn't grow from politics but from historical experience. Jews and Serbs are two peoples who stood shoulder to shoulder in the 20th century when many hoped to witness our extermination. They didn't succeed, and they will continue to fail. When Israel defends itself, it's not only protecting the present but also fulfilling the vow given in the face of your fathers' suffering and honoring their memory. We understand this because we also repeat this vow at places of suffering and heroism of our people. A Jewish saying states, 'Don't ask how long it will last – ask if it's worth fighting for.' This is the essence of the struggle of Israelis and Serbs – never ceasing to fight for what is sacred to you."

Q: Are there additional parallels between the Israeli story and the story of the Serbs and Republika Srpska?

"Jews are the people who have suffered the most in the world, and Serbs have suffered more than others in the Balkans. Israel refuses to apologize for its existence, and so do we. We defend the truth, we preserve memory, and we understand that history didn't begin yesterday. In fact, at Yad Vashem [the Israeli Holocaust memorial] and Jasenovac (an extermination camp where Nazis and their Croatian Ustasha allies murdered tens of thousands of Jews and hundreds of thousands of Serbs), they recognize the same vow. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,' says a well-known proverb. This is exactly why we, the Serbs, have a duty to remember – not to hate but to survive. And to prevent injustices from recurring again, whether they affect our people or any other. I believe you see the Serbian people as a true friend and a nation that knows what suffering and freedom are. Both our peoples have learned that the price of freedom is high, but the price of subjugation is even higher. Therefore, we understand each other better than others. Therefore, we stand by each other, in good times and difficult times."

Q: Israel built its strength, among other things, on economic power and technological power. Do you identify possibilities in these areas in Republika Srpska?

"We have resources, knowledge, talented people – we lack peace that would allow us to make use of all these. We have energy sources, agriculture, tourism, and information technologies, but Sarajevo constantly tries to hinder our development. Just as Israel refuses to let others determine its future, we will not agree to become hostages of a political and bureaucratic siege from Sarajevo."

Q: What is the reason that the Muslim majority in Bosnia tries to harass you?

"We don't ask for what isn't ours, but we won't give up what belongs to us. Borders are sacred for every nation, especially when they are anchored in international agreements. For us, the borders of Republika Srpska are based on a spiritual and historical foundation, and the international community guarantees them. Dialogue is only possible when there is genuine mutual respect. Bosnia's problem is that the Bosniak political elite doesn't want compromise – they want supremacy, and that's not the path to stability. We know that agreement should reflect compromise, not surrender. Netanyahu showed it's possible when he signed the Abraham Accords and built relationships with Arab countries while bypassing extremists. That's the model we also want to promote."

Jews and Serbs are two peoples who stood shoulder to shoulder in the 20th century when many hoped to witness our extermination. They didn't succeed, and they will continue to fail. When Israel defends itself, it's not only protecting the present but also fulfilling the vow given in the face of your fathers' suffering and honoring their memory. We understand this because we also repeat this vow at places of suffering and heroism of our people.

Joining hands against hatred

The problem of Republika Srpska is not limited to the expansionist aspirations of Bosnia's Muslim majority, which repeatedly tries to erode its autonomous status. The real difficulty, according to Dodik, lies in the fact that most European countries, except for Viktor Orbán's Hungary, enable this. Due to Bosnia's special structure, the position of external players carries enormous weight – foreign judges are appointed to Bosnia's Constitutional Court, and another foreigner serves as the High Representative, an external administrator with very broad powers.

Managing a country through an external administrator, who wasn't elected by its citizens at all, is an absurdity in itself, but in the case of the current Representative, Christian Schmidt, another component was added to the mix – the appointment of the German Schmidt was not approved by the UN Security Council, and therefore has no validity, at least in the eyes of Republika Srpska's leadership.

Dodik has refused to follow Schmidt's instructions, and as president signed a law passed by parliament declaring that the rulings of Bosnia's Constitutional Court have no validity in Republika Srpska. For these actions, he was put on trial in Sarajevo. How can an elected leader of a political entity be criminally prosecuted for signing approval for a law passed by a majority vote – you ask? It turns out that in today's Bosnia, even the impossible is possible.

But the indictment on an obviously political charge was just a prelude. The real explosion, which now threatens to dismantle Bosnia and perhaps even throw it back into the fire of renewed war, came just as Dodik landed in Israel to participate in a high-level international conference led by Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli. First, the Bosnian court published the Serbian leader's sentence (one year in prison and a ban on holding political office for six years), and a few days later demanded that Interpol issue an international arrest warrant against him.

Another politician might have welcomed the sudden spotlight that landed on him due to the scandalous ruling, but Dodik was mainly embarrassed. Embarrassed that media attention was diverted from the main issue – the fight against antisemitism for which he came to Israel – to the trivial and sensational, "I came to the Jewish state to join hands in the war against hatred of Jews. Antisemitism is evil, which unfortunately did not disappear with the end of World War II. Today it takes new forms, sometimes under the guise of concern for other causes, but in essence, it's the same hatred toward Jews and Israel. Europe shows us that it hasn't learned from the lessons of the past, and that should worry us all. We don't divide Jews into 'good' and 'bad' and don't use double standards. We know very well what it's like to be a victim and how it feels when they want to exterminate you just because you exist. Therefore, antisemitism will never have a place or foothold in Republika Srpska."

"There are no coincidences in politics," Dodik explains the timing of events, as tempers flared around him and media outlets worldwide competed over who would give the most dramatic headline regarding the arrest warrant raised over him. "At the exact moment I arrived in Israel to speak against antisemitism, extremism, and terrorism, Sarajevo takes an act of political and religious hatred, which comes from the same people who marched in the city streets with Hamas flags. Those who paraded with Hamas and ISIS symbols demand my arrest just because I am in Jerusalem, because I stand alongside a nation that knows what it means to fight for survival, because I refuse to be silent in the face of voices of hatred against Jews and Serbs, which are rising again in Bosnia. My message is very clear – I was in Israel when they tried to silence me, and I will come here again."

Seeking to impose foreign values

While Dodik's continued support for the Jewish state is not in doubt, the future of his conflicted country is shrouded in uncertainty, now more than ever. Any violent attempt by the Bosniaks to arrest him could ignite actual battles, but even without that, the shaky union of Muslims, Serbs, and Croats is creaking and falling apart.

Added to the internal tensions is the appetite of the powers, as almost everyone tries to pull the strings. Brussels and Turkey for the Bosniaks, Hungary, Serbia, and Russia for Republika Srpska, and Croatia for the Croats, of course. The tangle is so severe that, as in other conflict cases, eyes are turned toward Trump. Perhaps the savior from the White House will also untie the Bosnian knot, especially since the similarity in worldview between him and Milorad Dodik is simply amazing, and not just regarding their unequivocal support for Israel.

It's no coincidence that the president of Republika Srpska applauds the American president's decisions and his war against radical Left movements. "The protests and demonstrations against me, similar to the demonstrations against Netanyahu in Israel, were funded by the same power centers – USAID and other foundations that seek to shape the world according to their view and impose foreign values on sovereign peoples," explains Dodik, adding that he is convinced that the attempt of foreign influence and "deep state" efforts will not succeed, "Trump, Netanyahu, and I all serve as targets, not because we did something wrong, but because we are not willing to surrender. They cannot defeat us in elections, so they turn to other methods to remove us."

Another politician might have welcomed the sudden spotlight that landed on him due to the scandalous ruling, but Dodik was mainly embarrassed. Embarrassed that media attention was diverted from the main issue – the fight against antisemitism for which he came to Israel – to the trivial and sensational, "I came to the Jewish state to join hands in the war against hatred of Jews. Antisemitism is evil, which unfortunately did not disappear with the end of World War II. T

Similar to Donald Trump, Dodik finds himself under a massive attack on another controversial issue – he refused to open the door to Muslim immigration. "Republika Srpska did not agree to become a collection center for migrants because we know what it brings – damage to security, identity, and society," claims Dodik. "Again we see the difference between us and Sarajevo – we protect law and order, while they are interested in irresponsibly flooding the country with migrants under the guise of human rights discourse."

As is customary these days, Dodik also offered Americans to sign an agreement for the search and production of rare metals, which may be present in Republika Srpska's soil. According to him, there is feasibility for finding lithium, magnesium, and other minerals in the eastern part of the region, and their economic potential could reach $100 billion.

"I am convinced that Donald Trump is the man who will liberate the world," Dodik declared after the US presidential election, and it seems that in recent months he has only strengthened in his opinion. Liberating the world is a heavy mission, but perhaps a bit more possible when approaching it together. At least as far as he is concerned, "the Balkans' Trump" is ready to walk toward the goal alongside the original Trump, come what may.

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Major chaos erupted Tuesday in the Serbian parliament as part of the anti-government protest that continues to sweep the country. Opposition members set off smoke bombs in the plenary hall, made noise with noisemakers, and held signs reading "Serbia is rising up – until the regime falls."

Skupstina Srbije trenutno! pic.twitter.com/06QB9fHWKW

— Gliga (@UltraSerbia) March 4, 2025

 The incident occurred while protests continued in Serbia surrounding the November 2024 collapse of a roof at the Novi Sad train station that led to the death of 15 people. The widespread protest in the country has already led to the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević. In recent days, tens of thousands of students have been demonstrating in the capital Belgrade against President Aleksandar Vučić.

Video: Opposition members in Serbia set off smoke grenades in parliament / Credit: Social Media

The massive demonstrations in the country have now become almost daily, and now, the pressure is on President Vučić to resign and call for new elections. On Monday, Vučić was forced to apologize for calling a journalist an "imbecile" and accusing him of being politically motivated.

The president also claimed that he's a victim of an "unconstitutional" attempt organized by the West to remove him from office. He called the protesters against him a minority, their demands fake, and said that blocking roads and highways is illegal.

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A police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was seriously wounded in a crossbow attack on Saturday but managed to shoot his assailant fatally, reported the Associated Press. Serbian authorities have classified the incident as a terrorist act, citing the attacker recently "converted to Islam and undergone radicalization."

BREAKING:

Attack on the Israeli Embassy in Serbia

In central Belgrade, a man attacked Serbian special police securing the Israeli embassy, wounding one officer with a crossbow before being killed.

A photo of the attacker who wounded a Serbian policeman in the attack on… pic.twitter.com/9wltczV5rQ

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) June 29, 2024

The assailant fired a crossbow, a medieval weapon, striking the officer in the neck. Despite sustaining what was characterized as a life-threatening injury, the wounded officer demonstrated remarkable resilience and was able to regain his composure and return fire, killing the attacker. The injured officer was promptly evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.

Serbian hero, Gendarmery Officer, Miloš Jevremović, is well following the surgery. He is awake and communicating, and has received Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vučić on a visit. Our prayers worked. Terrorist is dead, Israeli Embassy is safe, and hero gets to live. Crisis over. pic.twitter.com/h3DoTX6hDV

— Sebastian Baxter (@SebBax7799) June 29, 2024

Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic left no room for ambiguity regarding the nature of the incident, stating emphatically, "There is no doubt that this was a terrorist attack. We are hunting them down. We will have no mercy for terrorism in Serbia."

Israel's ambassador to Serbia, Yahel Vilan, said he was deeply shocked by the attack and expressed gratitude to the injured officer "who courageously prevented the attack."

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Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić informed Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday that an ambassador will be posted in Israel within a month, ending a three-year hiatus in the relationship.

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Serbia downgraded the level of representation shortly after the Trump administration brokered an agreement under which Israel recognized Kosovo, which Belgrade refuses to accept as a separate country.

Video: Kosovo opens an embassy in Israel / Credit: The Foreign Ministry

Under that agreement, Kosovo opened an embassy in Jerusalem, and Serbia – which was supposed to do the same under that agreement – has never followed through on it and refused to appoint an ambassador to Israel to protest the Kosovo recognition, creating a diplomatic crisis that now appears to have been resolved.

"After three years of stagnation, these important ties with Serbia are now back on track," Cohen told Israel Hayom."The decision made by Serbia's president on appointing an ambassador to Israel is a sign of a thaw in relations."

He added that "Serbia is an important country in the Balkans; we are going to work together to bolster ties between the countries and promote diplomatic, economic, and technological collaboration between the two nations."

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Two students wounded in Serbia's first mass school shooting were in critical condition on Thursday, health officials said, as the country prepared for three days of national mourning.

The suspected shooter, a 13-year-old boy, surrendered on Wednesday, police said, after taking two handguns belonging to his father and killing eight students and a security guard in their school in the capital Belgrade. A teacher and six students were wounded. They are being treated at the Tirsova Hospital and the city's University Hospital.

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"The girl who underwent an urgent surgery yesterday due to head injuries... remains in critical condition and in intensive care," Sinisa Ducic, the acting director at the city's Tirsova hospital, told reporters. Mass shootings in Serbia are rare and this was the first-ever school shooting in the Balkan country, prompting the government to announce tougher curbs on gun ownership and to declare three days of national mourning from Friday. President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday announced a moratorium on new gun licenses other than for hunting, a revision of existing permits, enhanced surveillance of shooting ranges, and of how members of the public store their weapons.

The suspected shooter used two pistols that belonged to his father, police said on Wednesday. The guard and three girls were shot in a hallway. A teacher and students in a history class were then shot, police said.

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While full-fledged diplomatic relations with Kosovo have been an aspiration of the tiny Balkan republic for years, as it searches for recognition across the globe, the transfer of the Serbian Embassy to Jerusalem is a real sacrifice for the Serbs, who want to preserve good relations with the Muslim world.

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But beyond the Jewish state's surprising injection into the contentious Balkan issue, the deal signed in the Oval Office could be profoundly significant for one of the more volatile and conflicted regions in Europe.

But to understand the complex relationship between Kosovo, a tiny country with an Albanian-Muslim majority, and Serbia, the largest and strongest of the former Yugoslavia countries, one must do a deep-dive into the modern history that created Kosovo and Serbia, together with the deep-rooted sense of enmity and distrust between the two.

A history of violence

In 1992 the separatists in Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The declaration ignited sectorial strife between the territory's Serbian residents, with help from the Serbian military and police, and the Albanian-Muslim separatists. The Kosovar paramilitary organization, the Kosovo Liberation Army, committed atrocities against the Serbian population, while the Serbian army and militias perpetrated a horrific wave of massacres.

The Serbian army's brutality, which increasingly resembled an ethnic cleansing campaign, led NATO, spearheaded by the US, to intervene and launch an aerial offensive in 1998 against the Serbian military. At the same time, the Serbian army launched a revenge campaign inside Kosovo, which led to the deaths of nearly 10,000 civilians, almost 250,000 refugees, the rape of nearly 20,000 women, and the destruction of one-third of the mosques in the territory.

American intervention ended in 1999 as NATO ground forces entered Kosovo and the Serbian army withdrew. The Kosovo Liberation Army was disarmed and the local Kosovar government, which largely represented the Albanian majority in the territory, began managing the region's daily affairs. Meanwhile, the UN's foreign peace-keeping forces assumed responsibility for all security aspects.

In 2008, after the withdrawal of most of the foreign peace-keeping forces from Kosovo, and after a failed attempt to forge peace with Serbia, Kosovo declared its independence. Only 112 UN member states have recognized this independence and Serbia still objects to political recognition of this status.

Who benefits?

The deal signed at the White House was the first sign of Serbian recognition of the government sitting in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, but it stands on strictly economic foundations. Although it is not a political resolution to bury hostilities, the idea behind the agreement – economic cooperation, easing of travel restrictions between Kosovo and Serbia, and greater freedom of movement for goods – could lead to greater willingness in the future from both sides to come to a resolution.

The pressure applied by the US and EU to reach an agreement found both respective leaders at a sensitive juncture. On one hand, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his government have faced unprecedented anti-government protests and a significant decrease in popularity in the polls. On the other hand, the past of Kosovo's President Hashim Thaçi, as a former senior commander in the KLA, has come back to haunt him in the form of war crime allegations.

"For the Kosovar prime minister, this accord is tremendously good tidings to bring home, and not in the least because Israel now recognizes Kosovo after all these years in which Kosovo has begged and wished for such a thing," said Orel Beilinson, a historian from Yale University.

"For Vucic, this is an exceedingly modest achievement, if not too modest, whereby for now he doesn't have to recognize Kosovo politically and can tell his supporters that he essentially prevented Trump from recognizing Kosovo's independence," explained Beilinson.

"But all this isn't enough. I don't think there will be war, but Vucic will have to work hard to think of his next step in the domestic arena to salvage his rule. He was elected, in large part, to institute economic liberalization and make inroads toward EU membership. The economic progress has been stunted and the attempt to normalize economic ties with Kosovo will soon cease when the next phase is political [recognition]. The EU won't suffice with economic normalization, while Serbian citizens won't allow him to recognize Kosovo but will continue pressuring him to join the EU," said Beilinson.

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Netanyahu's statement came shortly after US President Donald Trump made a similar announcement in Washington, where he met with leaders of Serbia and Kosovo as they agreed to normalize economic ties between them.

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Netanyahu thanked the president of Serbia for moving the embassy to Jerusalem. He confirmed that Israel and Kosovo will establish diplomatic relations and said Pristina also will open its embassy in Jerusalem.

"Kosovo will be the first country with a Muslim majority to open an embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said in a rare statement issued after the start of the Jewish sabbath. "As I've said in recent days – the circle of peace and recognition of Israel is expanding and more countries are expected to join."

Kosovo's President Hashim Thaçi told Israel Hayom: "The mutual recognition between Kosovo and Israel is a historic achievement. As I await the opening of our embassy in Jerusalem, I am thankful to the United States for facilitating… a strong partnership between two sovereign countries. The people of Kosovo and Israel have forged ties that cannot be broken… Therefore, I believe that today [Friday] is only the continuation of a longstanding friendship between the two countries."

In all, a total of four countries now recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, including the US and Guatemala. The Palestinians, who refuse to enter peace talks with Israel or recognize the US as a mediator, claim east Jerusalem as their would-be capital.

Trump said Serbia has committed to opening a commercial office in Jerusalem this month and move its embassy there in July.

Serbia's decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a nod to both Israel and the United States. The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017 and moved the US embassy there in May 2018.

The moves are part of the Trump administration's push to stabilize the Middle East.

Most recently, the administration brokered a deal for Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations. That was followed by the first commercial flight between Israel and the UAE, with neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to allow such flights to pass through their airspace. Additional Arab and Muslim states, including Sudan, Bahrain and Oman, have been identified as countries that might also normalize relations with Israel.

After two days of meetings with Trump administration officials, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti agreed to cooperate on a range of economic fronts to attract investment and create jobs. The announcement provided Trump with a diplomatic win ahead of the November presidential election and furthers his administration's push to improve Israel's international standing.

"I'm pleased to announce a truly historic commitment," Trump said in the Oval Office, standing alongside the two leaders. "Serbia and Kosovo have each committed to economic normalization."

"After a violent and tragic history and years of failed negotiations, my administration proposed a new way of bridging the divide. By focusing on job creation and economic growth, the two countries were able to reach a major breakthrough," the president said.

Kosovo's Parliament declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO conducted a 78-day airstrike campaign against Serbia to stop a bloody crackdown against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Most Western nations have recognized Kosovo's independence, but Serbia and its allies Russia and China have not. The ongoing deadlock and Serbia's unwillingness to recognize Kosovo have kept tensions simmering and prevented full stabilization of the Balkan region after the bloody wars in the 1990s.

"These were difficult talks for us, but I'm truly satisfied," Vucic told Serbian reporters in Washington.

He stressed that the economic agreement does not include "mutual recognition" between Serbia and Kosovo. But he hailed the talks as a big victory for Serbia and a step toward closer ties with the US. Despite officially seeking membership in the European Union, Serbia has been forging close political, economic and military ties with Russia and China.

Hoti said moving ahead with economic normalization was a "huge step forward." He said rail links and various other major infrastructure projects discussed will bring an estimated $1.18 billion in major economic changes to Kosovo in the next three to five years.

Kosovo also agreed to a one-year pause in efforts seeking new membership in international organizations. And Serbia agreed to a one-year pause of any campaign against Kosovo's efforts for membership into international organizations and new recognition from other countries.

Serbia and Kosovo earlier okayed air, rail and transit agreements. Trump envoy Richard Grenell said US companies also could benefit from normalizing commerce.

"American companies were telling us they were pulling out – like rental car companies. Because if you rented a car in Kosovo, you couldn't drive over the border. You couldn't leave," Grenell said. "So we had American businesses beginning to pull back, saying it just doesn't make sense. And the Europeans were complaining just as much."

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On Monday, Vucic and Hoti are scheduled to go to Brussels to hold talks under the auspices of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak.

The EU has mediated the talks between the two former wartime foes for more than a decade, and the parallel US effort, although focused on economic development, has not been fully embraced by some EU officials.

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Vucic said his country would open a chamber of commerce office in the Israeli capital, and that a diplomatic office would follow, bearing Serbia's national flag.

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"That's our way of showing respect to Jewish people as well," he said, drawing a standing ovation from the audience with his short speech.

Vucic also spoke on the historic importance of Israeli-Serbian ties, noting that Serbia has long supported the right of the Jewish people to have their own state, starting from the Balfour declaration.

He mentioned President Reuven Rivlin's visit to Serbia in 2018, which saw the two leaders open a street named after Theodor Herzl.

"We have always been together throughout history, and we support each other today," he said, pointing at Serbia's ratification of the Holocaust property restitution bill in 2016 – the first country in Europe to pass such a law.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Vucic in November 2018 in the Bulgarian city of Varna.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS

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