TRIŠIĆ-BABIĆ: SRPSKA HAS A SINCERE FRIEND IN ISRAEL

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 3 /SRNA/ – The establishment of the Israel Chamber of Commerce marks an important and grand day for Republika Srpska and occasion of great importance , while the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recognised the significance of this event further strengthens the resolve to turn this cooperation into a genuine success story, said Acting Director of the Republika Srpska International Cooperation Office Ana Trišić-Babić.

"We view Prime Minister Netanyahu’s support as a message that Republika Srpska has a friend in Israel who sincerely stands with us," Trišić-Babić said at a ceremony in Banja Luka marking the establishment of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in Srpska.

Trišić-Babić, who hosted the ceremony together with President of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in Srpska Amir Gross Kabiri, said that the State of Israel and Republika Srpska had long fostered a sincere friendship.

She noted that President Milorad Dodik had recognised the significance of this friendship, founded on the similarities between the tragic and painful experiences of the two peoples, the challenges they face today, and the fact that both the Jewish and Serb peoples live in hostile surroundings.

"One of the similarities connecting us is our ability to live in a hostile environment and survive. Our enemies have failed to erase us from the face of the Earth. We remain alive, strong, stronger than ever, dynamic and surrounded by friends with whom we share mutual understanding and support," Trišić-Babić said.

Addressing Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli, Trišić-Babić said that his portfolio carried a responsibility that was neither unfamiliar nor abstract to the people of Srpska.

"The fight against antisemitism is a fight against attempts to use hatred and lies to turn a people into a target of those who cannot tolerate its existence. We in Srpska know what it means to be the target of denial, revisionism and attempts to distort history," Trišić-Babić said.

We know, she says, that anyone who remained silent today in the face of hatred against the Jewish people would open the door to hatred against anyone else tomorrow.

"The cooperation we have launched is producing results, and our intention is to further improve every aspect of it and strengthen our friendship. Peoples who have survived what the Jewish and Serb peoples have survived do not build friendships out of self-interest, but out of an understanding that requires no explanation," Trišić-Babić concluded.

The ceremony at the Republika Srpska Government headquarters in Banja Luka is being attended by Srpska officials and an Israeli delegation.