Slovenia’s center-left government declared on Thursday as Persona Non Grateful Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom an entry banned in the country was issued, understanding that he is violating international humanitarian law, according to Sta news agency.
“With this action, Slovenia confirms its commitment to international law, the universal values of human rights and a coherent foreign policy based on principles,” said the Secretary of State of the Slovenian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Neva Grašič.
The Secretary of State stated that the same sanctions weighing against two of their ministers were issued against the Israeli head of government, who last July were declared persona non grata.
Grašič justified that there are procedures for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Netanyahu, and that the International Court of Justice determined on July 19, 2024 that various Israeli policies and practices violate both humanitarian international law and human rights.
The Slovenian representative also mentioned the report of the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent Investigation Commission, which said on September 16 that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued last year an arrest order against Netanyahu, on accusations of war crimes and humanity in the conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli government has not yet commented on the measure announced by the Slovenian government on Thursday.
Slovenia acknowledged in June 2024 the state of Palestine and in July this year declared two ministers of the Israeli government as persona non grata, Itamar Ben-Gvir (national security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance), preventing them from entering the country.
He then imposed an embargo of arms on Israel and introduced a ban on imports of goods produced in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
When the arms embargo was imposed, a source of the Israeli government mocked the Slovenian statement in an interview with the Ynet website.
“We do not shop in Slovenia’s defense area. We do not buy even a pin of them. They simply decided on an embargo to attract media attention, because they can do so, but it is completely meaningless,” he said.
The country’s radio and public television, a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO, also evaluates not to participate in the Eurovision festival if Israel will attend.
In addition, the Slovenian government today approved a contribution to the operation of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) in the amount of 1.2 million euros, which will be part of the initiative of France, Spain, Norway and Saudi Arabia to ensure its financial sustainability.
