When the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, sat down for an exclusive interview with me at The Jerusalem Post’s Jerusalem offices on Wednesday, he did so at his own request.
His representatives reached out to us ahead of his trip to Israel, seeking a platform to speak directly to Israelis and to the wider Jewish world.
His stated purpose: to raise awareness about rising antisemitism and to underscore what he describes as a historic bond between the Serbian and Jewish peoples.
But less than 24 hours later, the headlines were no longer about antisemitism. A court in Sarajevo issued an international arrest warrant for Dodik, accusing him of undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional order and defying rulings by the Office of the High Representative, the international body overseeing the fragile peace in the country. The court also issued a warrant for the speaker of the Serb Republic’s parliament, Nenad Stevandic.
The timing raised eyebrows. Dodik had already arrived in Israel when the announcement was made. According to Ynet, he left the Jerusalem conference on antisemitism abruptly after just one hour, reportedly after Israeli officials informed him that his presence was diplomatically problematic. But the truth is, he stayed till the end of the summit and was even photographed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I came to Israel to speak against antisemitism,” he told me. “Instead, I found myself unwelcome – a guest made to feel like an intruder.”
To understand why this matters, and why the Post agreed to conduct this interview, it’s essential to look at the broader picture.Dodik is no ordinary regional politician. As the president of Republika Srpska – the Serb-majority autonomous entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina – he has become a central and polarizing figure in Balkan politics.Once seen as a moderate reformer, Dodik has, over the past decade, embraced a fiercely nationalist and pro-Russian stance. He has repeatedly threatened to secede from Bosnia and has worked to weaken the central government in Sarajevo, leading critics to accuse him of pushing the country toward renewed ethnic division – or worse.His geopolitical alliances are equally provocative. He maintains a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has frequently criticized the European Union and the United States for what he calls their “interventionist” policies in the Balkans.“The West wants to impose liberal values that have no connection to our history or identity,” he told me. “They tried their solution for 30 years, and it failed. Now it’s time to let us, the Serbs, decide our future.”Dodik’s support for Trump-era policies has also come at a cost. He blames his inclusion on the US sanctions list in 2017 on his vocal endorsement of then-candidate Donald Trump.
“I was days away from attending Trump’s inauguration,” he said. “Two days before my flight, the Obama-Biden administration sanctioned me. That was political punishment.”Since then, Dodik has positioned himself as an unapologetic opponent of the liberal international order – a stance that resonates with some far-right movements in Europe and beyond. But it has also earned him increasing isolation.Why Israel? Why now?
So, why did he come to Israel, and why did he want to speak about antisemitism?
“Serbs and Jews have suffered together,” he said. “We understand what it means to be targeted, to have your history rewritten, to be blamed for everything. That is what is happening to us in Bosnia, just as it’s happening to Israel in the world.”Dodik insisted that Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, has become a hub of Islamist influence, accusing Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) leaders of maintaining ties with Iran and enabling the spread of radical ideologies.“During the civil war, the largest embassy in Sarajevo was Iran’s – 480 people, most of them spies,” he said. “They trained mujahideen fighters in Bosnia, some of whom later participated in global terror, including 9/11.”“Antisemitism is allowed to thrive” in parts of Bosnia, he said, adding that in Sarajevo, “they project Palestinian flags onto buildings, while in Banja Luka, we raise the Israeli flag.”Some of Dodik’s claims are rooted in truth. During the Bosnian War in the 1990s, foreign fighters, including Iranian-backed mujahideen, were present on the Bosniak side. Today, some Western officials are concerned about Iranian and Turkish influence in Bosnia’s Muslim-majority areas – particularly within the context of rising antisemitism in Europe.But Dodik also treads into dangerous historical revisionism. He has repeatedly denied the Srebrenica genocide, despite rulings by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. In this interview, he said the genocide designation was a “political fabrication.”“The UN resolution on Srebrenica passed with only 84 votes out of 193,” he said in an interview with the Post’s Eldad Beck last week. “That’s not a consensus; it’s a campaign. There is no resolution on Jasenovac, where hundreds of thousands of Serbs and Jews were murdered by Croats and Muslims. Why not?”This grievance-based narrative – of Serbs as historical victims, of being unfairly blamed, of being abandoned by the West – fuels much of Dodik’s rhetoric. But it also contains a consistent through line: a deep affinity for Israel, particularly the Israel of October 8, 2023, the one fighting for legitimacy in the face of growing international hostility.“We are not interested in war,” he said. “But we are also not interested in living in a country where our identity is erased, and our people are blamed for everything. It’s the same story as Israel. Look at the reaction to Hamas’s massacre, and then look at how Israel is treated by the world.”A risky platform?
Some may question the decision to give Dodik a platform, especially as legal proceedings against him advance. But journalism – real journalism – means asking questions, even of people with whom we may fundamentally disagree. It means letting readers judge for themselves.
In this case, there is an additional angle: Dodik is not only a Balkan nationalist; he is also someone who sought out Israel to deliver his message. He chose to speak to the Jewish people – not through Moscow or Belgrade, but in Jerusalem. The Post hasn’t and will not take sides in a conflict not directly in our jurisdiction.“The world needs to understand: There is no peaceful coexistence where one side is always expected to apologize,” he said. “We tried that. It failed.”The full interview will be published next week. It is lengthy, complex, and provocative. It includes his thoughts on Trump, Putin, Ukraine, Iran, and what he sees as the West’s moral decline. Some of his statements are bound to stir anger, while others may resonate in surprising ways. Stay tuned.