Israeli officials have asked Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik to leave a conference on anti-Semitism in Jerusalem after an international arrest warrant was issued for him, Israeli media reported. N1.
An article in the newspaper Israel Hayom, which was reported by Sarajevo media, states that Israeli officials "made it clear to Dodik that he was not welcome at the event, which forced him to leave the venue."
Dodik told the Jerusalem Post that he left the event because he "felt like an intruder."
"I came to Israel to speak out against anti-Semitism. Instead, I felt unwelcome – a guest who felt like an intruder," he said.
Israel Hayom previously reported in an article that a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina had issued an arrest warrant for Dodik for separatist activities.
It is added that Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban from holding the office of President of Republika Srpska.
"Dodik, a long-time pro-Russian advocate of secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has pushed through a law banning the operation of the Bosnian state judiciary and police in the Serb-majority entity," the Israeli newspaper stated, recalling that the law was temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The text states that Dodik has repeatedly threatened to separate Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina and merge it with neighboring Serbia, and that Western countries "warned that this would once again spark violent conflict in the region."
DON'T MISS IT
The news that Israeli officials had asked Dodik to leave the conference on anti-Semitism was first reported by Shirit Avitan Cohen, a journalist for the newspaper Israel Hayom.
"A mini-drama at a conference against anti-Semitism in Jerusalem. After news of his arrest was released, it appears that Israeli officials made it clear to Dodik, who was attending the event, that he was not welcome, and he and his entourage left the venue at the last minute," Avitan Cohen stated.
Dodik participated in a roundtable discussion at the conference this morning, where he said, among other things, that Banja Luka supported Israel on October 7, 2023, the day of the Palestinian Hamas attack on the south of that country, and that pro-Palestinian protests were held in Sarajevo at that time.
Bonus video:
