Vucic to Herzog: No outbursts of anti-semitism in Serbia

Speaking after a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Vucic said the Serbian people always stood with the Jewish people in the worst times including the present. “There are no outbursts of anti-semitism in Belgrade and Serbia and our Jewish community feels safe as do our guests,” he said. Vucic said they exchanged information about events in Kosovo and the situation in the Middle East.

According to Vucic, they also discussed Alon Ohel, a dual Israeli-Serbian national who was taken hostage by Hamas in October last year. “I spoke to a number of people, my friends in the Arab world and asked them to talk to the people holding him hostage … to let them know that this is a request of the Republic of Serbia for Aloh Ohel to be released,” he said adding that he met with pianist Ohel’s family.

Herzog responded saying that the whole world should oppose terrorism and recalling that Serbia condemned the hostage taking by Hamas. He added that the hostage taking last October should be the main issue for the international community. “You emotionally mentioned the Israeli hostages… Alon Ohel is an Israeli of Serbian origin ,” he said at the news conference.

The news conference was attended by Ohel’s mother Idit.