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.
Under Vucic’s leadership, Serbia has not only deepened its diplomatic and military ties with Israel but has also taken a bold stance against rising antisemitism in Europe at a time when Jew-hatred is reaching unprecedented levels since the Holocaust.
In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with The Jerusalem Post, Vucic reflects on Serbia’s swift response to the October 7 massacre, Serbian-Israeli relations, and the country’s unique historical relationship with the Jewish people.
A towering figure in Balkan politics, Vucic is unafraid to defy Brussels, Berlin, or Washington when it comes to Serbia’s sovereignty and its friendships. His words carry the weight of a leader who has navigated the treacherous waters of post-Yugoslav politics.
Serbia's reaction to October 7
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.”
That criticism has been sharp. Serbian investigative outlet KRIK and the German newspaper Bild accused Vucic of irregularities in the arms deals. Vucic shrugged off the attacks.
“I wasn’t surprised by the level of attacks against the Jewish state and the Jewish people all over Europe,” he stated.
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.”
That sentiment was felt not just in state halls, but on the streets. As Israeli sports teams, both in soccer and basketball, scrambled to find venues suitable for hosting their “home” matches in European competitions amid a deteriorating security situation, ongoing rocket fire, and international boycotts, Serbia opened its arms.
“Maccabi Tel Aviv was hosting their games here in Belgrade, Maccabi Haifa was here, and [in] Vojvodina,” Vucic said. “It has never happened that we had any kind of incident. Not even in our bigger stadiums – both Belgrade teams. You couldn’t hear a single antisemitic slogan or banner, nothing at all during the crisis starting from October 7. Not a single bad word. Not a single offense against players, coaches, nothing at all. I am very proud of that.”
It was in this context of rising cooperation that Vucic revealed he had also been working behind the scenes to help secure the release of hostage Alon Ohel.
Vucic explained to the Post that he personally appealed to Arab leaders to help secure the release of Israeli-Serbian citizen Ohel, who was abducted by Hamas on October 7 and is still held in Gaza after more than 600 days.
“I met his family several times,” Vucic said. “I was so touched by the way they were presenting the case of their son and grandson when they were here. They were so proud and so dignified. They were doing everything in a solemn, serious way, doing everything to help.”
The young dual national was attending the Supernova music festival near Re’im when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, and last week he passed 600 days in captivity. His family revealed in April that they had received information from released hostages that Ohel was now blind in one eye.
“Alon is injured. He lost sight in one eye, and we know that his other eye can be saved,” his father, Kobi Ohel, said at the time.
Taken captive on October 7 from the “death shelter” along with additional hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ohel sustained shrapnel wounds from some of the grenades thrown into the shelter, his mother, Idit, said.
He was then physically abused and tortured, his mother said, adding that he received “disgraceful treatment from Hamas – a 19-year-old sewed him up with needle and thread, with no painkiller.”
Vucic described his quiet but determined efforts behind the scenes to gather information and plead for assistance.
“I asked some of my friends in the Middle East for help, and we got some info that he was alive,” Vucic shared. “Of course, you never know. It is terribly difficult conveying this type of message to the mother who is waiting for her son. But I said to her, ‘I cannot guarantee it, but we have information that he is alive.’ And then we got official information that he was alive, that he was injured and passing through difficult times.”
Vucic added that Serbia had done all it could within its limited capacity, emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in such cases. “We will always do our best. He is our citizen, he is an Israeli citizen. He is just a young man who has the right to live. We have some friends in the Arab world, too, good friends, and I am begging those people to help take care of that young guy and free him as soon as possible. I was really begging my friends for his life.”
Vucic has developed excellent ties with many Arab countries during his presidency, most notably United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Serbian leader reserved special praise for Ohel’s family. “His family is amazing – his grandparents. That was the first time I saw how Israelis and Jewish people are able to bear that type of burden on their shoulders. It was not an easy meeting at all, but this is what I saw. What can you say to a mother who is waiting for her son, and not disappoint their expectations?”
Reflecting on the circumstances of Ohel’s abduction, Vucic added: “These people are civilians. Being present at a music festival, listening to the music – that was their biggest sin.”
Trade between Serbia and Israel
Beyond military armaments, trade and investment ties between Serbia and Israel have reached unprecedented levels, marking a new chapter in bilateral relations. According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, exports from Serbia to Israel surged by 196.2% in the first two months of 2025 alone. In 2024, total trade between the two countries hit a record $199.2m., with Serbian exports up 75.2% and imports up 40.9%.
Over the past four years, trade has tripled, positioning Israel as Serbia’s leading export destination in the Middle East and its fourth-largest outside of Europe, despite the absence of a free trade agreement, which presidents Herzog and Vucic announced plans to pursue during Herzog’s 2024 visit to Belgrade. Much of this work has been led by investors on the Israeli side, and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it's Jerusalem Representative Office Director and Honorary Consul of Serbia to Israel Aleksandar Nikolic.
Serbia’s Jewish Foreign Minister Marko Djuric also visited Israel earlier this year, in a reciprocal sign of the growing ties between the two nations.
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%.
Israeli investments in Serbia span key sectors, including renewable energy, real estate, and hi-tech.
Notable projects include Enlight Energy’s wind farms in Kovacica and Pupin, Nofar Energy’s €25m. solar park in Ada, and major developments by AFI Europe and BIG shopping centers in Belgrade. Serbia and Israel are also collaborating in biotech and cybersecurity, areas both nations consider strategic priorities.
Amid this economic momentum, Serbia’s international financial credibility has improved. In October, S&P upgraded the country to investment grade for the first time, citing strong growth and external buffers. Fitch Ratings followed in February by reaffirming Serbia’s positive outlook, signaling confidence in its fiscal management – even amid political uncertainties.
“We have an Israeli-constructed skyline here in Belgrade, and then, close to the banks of the Sava, something built by the UAE. This is Belgrade; I am very proud of that,” Vucic said.
Israel's role in Srebrenica resolution
Israel’s abstention from the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution marking July 11 as the International Day of Reflection on the Srebrenica Genocide was not lost on Vucic.
“When we were facing the Srebrenica resolution in the UNGA, we showed that we were able to gather a majority of the countries against even the bigger powers. However, it was a very difficult topic for us,” he explained.
“They attracted many Islamic countries because of the issue of Srebrenica. We were very thankful to Israel that they did not vote in favor of the resolution. I think it was important for Israel and the Jewish people, because next time it could be you subjected to such a resolution at the UNGA, and Serbia will not vote in favor.”
Antisemitism in Serbia
Unlike some European counterparts, the Serb leader has consistently positioned his country as a safe and welcoming place for Jews. Vucic touts Serbia’s record, which is unlike that of much of Europe, where antisemitism is once again on the rise.
“It is more and more present, these kinds of antisemitic feelings in Europe, but we will have to deal with it. The sooner the better. This will bring us once again to the precipice,” he warned.“I don’t understand how it became political fashion, hating Jews.”
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 in World War II, Croatians who formed a puppet state under the Nazis and carried out atrocities on Jews, Serbs, and Roma people.
In 2016, Serbia passed a landmark law providing restitution for heirless Jewish property confiscated during the Holocaust. Only a handful of countries have taken such legal steps. In 2020, under Vucic’s leadership, the Serbian National Assembly established the Memorial Center Staro Sajmiste, to commemorate Holocaust victims.
Staro Sajmiste is the site of a concentration camp established during the German occupation in the city of Belgrade itself, just across the Sava River from the fortress. Thousands of Jews and Serbs passed through its gates, after the Germans turned the former exhibition grounds into a camp. Jews were taken from the camp and driven off in vans, where they were gassed using exhaust fumes – an experimental precursor to the gas chambers of Poland.
The site is currently undergoing restoration (the Post was given a tour of the site), but funds are lacking to complete the mission of turning it into a museum.
“You know, I am very angry with myself,” Vucic stated when asked about the law. “I heard there were some problems, and I didn’t follow the entire process, and now I am engaging myself once again to finish everything down there. Because if I don’t do it, nobody will.”
“We need to do it for our future. People will have to visit that place, people will have to see what happened there and understand what happened there, so nothing similar can happen to us at any time in the future.
“Although we are doing things nobody else is doing in Europe, we have to speed it up.”
In January 2020, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a yellow flag, reminiscent of the badges Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, was flown next to the Serbian flag on top of the presidential palace.
Vucic tweeted a photo of the flag on Tuesday morning, along with the message in both English and Serbian: “This badge was a symbol of the attempted destruction of the Jews by the Nazis. Now it is a symbol of honor. 75 years after. Never again.”
Reminiscing, he recalled, “The only flag that was hoisted here [at the presidential palace], apart from the Serbian and EU flags [because of EU candidacy], was a special, yellow Jewish flag. No other flags.
People have asked me to put football flags, national team, LGBT, etc. None of them have flown apart from the Jewish flag.”
Yet the president remains disturbed by antisemitic demonstrations erupting elsewhere: “When I see this mass hysteria against Jewish people at some universities in the US and all over the world, I don’t understand whether these people really know what happened to the Jews, or they believe they are smarter than everybody. It’s very sad, and in the end it’s very wrong and it’s very stupid.”
Israel’s friend in the Balkans
Vucic is a man comfortable forging his own path. He is fully aligned neither with Brussels nor with Washington, but sees Serbia’s destiny in principled independence.
“I have never hidden who my friends are. It doesn’t matter whom I speak to. If somebody asks me about Bibi or Isaac [Herzog], it will always be the same positive stuff. And I don’t care who asks me. This is the strength of the Serbian position – that we can say what we think.”
He sees Serbia and Israel as kindred nations.
“We are here at a crossroads of different religions, of different worlds. Somewhere in the middle, we need to survive. Who is going to take care of us?” he told the Post.
“Israel has a very special relationship with the United States, but apart from that, is there anyone whom you really believe in, apart from yourself? Today, it is only yourselves that you can believe in, no one else. That’s why you do your best to be as strong as possible in order to defend yourselves. And that’s what we need to do here as well.”
“Our ties with Jews and Israelis – this is something different from a historical perspective up to the present day. This isn’t policy or current politics, no. This is our politics of all times, and it will always have to remain so.”
The writer was a guest of the Serbian presidential palace.