Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar inaugurated Israel’s first-ever embassy in Slovenia on Wednesday, completing in just three months a diplomatic push driven by Ljubljana’s dramatic change of course toward Jerusalem and Israel’s search for reliable allies inside the European Union.
The embassy, in central Ljubljana, is the fifth Sa’ar has opened in the past year and a half and comes as Slovenia emerges as one of Israel’s closest partners in the EU.
For now, however, the mission is operating from temporary premises.
The permanent embassy is intended to move to another space on a higher floor of the same office building, but that property has not yet become available. Israeli officials said there was an urgent need to establish a diplomatic presence before then, prompting security authorities to approve the temporary arrangement.
A senior diplomatic official said Sa’ar promised the Slovenians in June that Israel would open an embassy after the new government reversed a string of measures adopted by its predecessor.
Those changes included lifting a ban on Israir flights landing in Ljubljana, reversing recognition of a Palestinian state, removing a Palestinian flag from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry building, ending an arms embargo on Israel, revoking the designation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as persona non grata and declaring an intention to move Slovenia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Officials also described a broader transformation in Slovenia’s position inside the European Union, from one of the bloc’s most hostile governments toward Israel to one of its friendliest.
That shift was demonstrated last month when Slovenia and Czechia vetoed an initiative by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to secure a joint condemnation by all 27 member states of Israel’s E1 construction plan.
‘You can’t leave the Czechs alone’
According to the senior official, Slovenia’s importance grew after the political upheaval in Hungary and the fall of Viktor Orban, whose government had been strongly supportive of Jerusalem.
The change, the official said, created an opening for Kallas to seek unanimous EU decisions targeting Israel, including potential sanctions.
(Photo: Shalev Man)
“Czechia would not have been able to withstand the pressure alone, so it needed another country to support it,” the official said. “That is why there was urgency in opening the embassy in Ljubljana. You can’t leave the Czechs alone.”
Sa’ar instructed Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar Tal to establish the mission, which was completed within three months, a timetable officials described as unprecedented.
Sa’ar later traveled to Ljubljana with a delegation of Israeli businesspeople as part of a broader effort to deepen economic and political ties.
“Israel had to show Slovenia that it was serious,” the official said. “Israel cannot do without Slovenia, and we are going full speed ahead in advancing relations in every field. Sa’ar’s directive is to strengthen the relationship with maximum effort.”
Security officials approved the temporary embassy ahead of the planned relocation in several months.
A senior Foreign Ministry official said Israel would not pay rent on both premises simultaneously. Once the intended space becomes available, the mission will move there without any overlap.
“That was the security authorities’ condition for opening the embassy,” the official said.
Another senior ministry official rejected suggestions that Sa’ar insisted on opening the embassy before Israel’s election for political reasons.
“Sa’ar has established six embassies over the past year and a half, including when elections were not on the horizon,” the official said. “That is his policy. It is his forte.”