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When asked if Serbia will be the third country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, President Vučić briefly said the day before yesterday: “We will see” and linked it to the eventual recognition of Kosovo by Israel. On the Israeli side, from the day of the signing of the agreement between Vučić and Avdulah Hoti with Donald Trump in the White House, on September 4, it seemed that all these things were true and harmonized. Israel’s ambassador to Tirana, Noah Gal Gendler, said yesterday that his country is expected to officially recognize Kosovo’s independence in the coming weeks, adding that Israel will open an embassy in Pristina, but not before recognition, due to the procedure. He said that he considered important Kosovo’s promise to open a representative office in Jerusalem, but also Serbia’s promise to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This was announced by the Pristina “Gazeta Express”, referring to Albanian television Vizion Plus, but was not published by any Albanian media, Tanjug reports.
It is certain that Serbia will open a joint office of the government and the Chamber of Commerce in Jerusalem, in Margalit Startup City, at the end of the month, which will deal with the development of economic cooperation with Israel. PKS President Marko Cadez, who is currently in Israel for the final preparations, said in an interview for the television channel I24news, when asked about the implementation of the agreement from Washington, that he, as a representative of the community business, sees that there are political difficulties.
However, he noted that it is no small thing that Serbia is ready to be the first European country to move its embassy to Jerusalem and open an office, which will not only be commercial, but a joint office of the government and the Chamber of Commerce under the auspices of the Prime Minister. personally participates in the development of digitization in government. She believes that Israel, its people, and the politicians who decide, will know better what to do when it comes to relations with Kosovo and Metohija.
Michael Freund, a regular columnist and president of the Israel-Serbia Friendship Society in Jerusalem, an American Jew and deputy director of communications for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first cabinet, wrote about the Israeli position in the prestigious “Jerusalem Post.” In an article entitled “Israel’s mistake in the Balkans”, he presents to the readers of this document the complexity of the current situation, from the point of view not only of a good expert on the Israeli-Palestinian problem, but also of relations in the Balkans, Freund analyzes Israel as if it has already recognized Kosovo and recalls that the media published it with enthusiasm and even joy. However, he cautioned that “one should not be misled that this is the right decision.”
“It just came to our notice then.” By recognizing Kosovo, Israel has made a major Balkan mistake, which is not only an insult to history, justice and common sense, but also undermines its own national interests of the Jewish state. and that it will probably be a boomerang against us, “Freund said, adding that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, both legally and constitutionally. Supporting its secession, he adds, means interfering in the internal affairs of another state,” which rarely it is a prudent step. “He recalled that for more than 12 years, Israel refused to support an independent Kosovo in principle and with good reason.
In order for readers to understand the sensitivity of that issue, that is, how important Kosovo is to Belgrade, with which Israel has been developing “warmer relations” in recent years, Freund stated that “Kosovo for Serbs is what they are Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (West Bank). ” for Jews, the cradle of the nation, the place where it all began. “
It also points out that Serbia, although it made a commitment in the White House to strengthen economic cooperation with Kosovo, resolutely refused to join its statehood. “Israel’s recognition of Kosovo is an insult to Serbia and threatens to overshadow the improvement of relations between the two countries. It also sets a dangerous precedent, which can easily be changed and used against the Jewish state.” After all If the Kosovars can unilaterally separate Serbia to create their own country, why can’t the Palestinians in Judea or the Israeli Arabs in Galilee do that? “he asks.
Over the years, opposing Kosovo’s independence as a principle, Israel could rightly claim that it has a consistent stance upholding the inviolability of sovereign borders, but after Kosovo’s recognition, that consistency is now a thing of the past. Freund said. She goes on to say that “by recognizing Kosovo, Israel has dealt a blow to its relations with Serbia, undermined its own position on Palestinian self-determination and intervened in the dispute to which it does not belong.” And she concludes that, sadly, due to the elections in the United States in less than two months and the need for Washington to record foreign policy successes, politics has once again triumphed over principle.
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