Ohan thanks Serbia for working to ensure Holocaust is remembered

JERUSALEM - The speaker of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, thanked Serbia on Tuesday for working to ensure the Holocaust was remembered and that "Never Again" was not just a slogan, but a sacred vow.

"For centuries, Jews have lived and flourished in the land of Serbia," Amir Ohan said at a press conference with Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic.

"Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, traced his roots to the city of Zemun, whose rabbi Juda Alkalay was among the first to envision Jewish sovereignty restored. Serbia was the first nation to endorse the Balfour Declaration and the first to invoke the name Israel in formal diplomatic channels," he said.

"We have known each other since 2019, when you served as PM and I as minister of justice, introduced by our mutual friend, President Trump's special envoy, Rick Grenell. Your friendship with Israel has never been symbolic - it has been sincere and anchored in actions. You established Serbia's presence in Jerusalem, our eternal and undivided capital, you stood with Israel in international forums, where moral clarity is often in retreat. You opposed the BDS movement with principled resolve and you have worked, even yesterday, to ensure that the Holocaust is remembered and that 'Never Again' is not just a slogan, but a sacred vow upheld through strength.

By standing with Israel in our most challenging hour, you do more than honour that legacy, you carry it forward," Ohan told Brnabic.

He noted she was the first speaker of a foreign parliament to visit Israel following a "decisive war."

"That is no mere gesture - it is in times like these, in the crucible of crisis, that true friends emerge," he added.