Israel opens embassy in Slovenia as thousands protest diplomatic shift in Ljubljana

Diplomatic opening in Ljubljana

Israel opened its first embassy in Slovenia on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, during an official visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar to the capital, Ljubljana. Sa'ar met with Slovenian Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer to sign bilateral agreements, including a memorandum on cultural cooperation, alongside an Israeli business delegation seeking to expand economic partnerships. The opening occurred as twelve countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Poland, announced import bans on goods produced in West Bank settlements. The Israeli foreign ministry stated that the new Slovenian administration has demonstrated friendship and expressed support within the European Union through both words and actions.

Reversal of Golob-era foreign policy

The establishment of the mission follows a foreign policy reversal under Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who took office in July after the March parliamentary election. Jansa stated that his government was only normalizing foreign policy and repairing damage caused by the previous administration. Under former prime minister Robert Golob, whose center-left government governed from 2022 to 2026, Slovenia recognized the State of Palestine in 2024 and described the war in Gaza as genocide. Golob enacted an arms embargo against Israel, barred settlement goods, and issued entry bans for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Upon taking office, Jansa removed the Palestinian flag from the government building and revoked all punitive measures against Israel, while keeping the diplomatic recognition of Palestine in place.

Impeachment motion and espionage allegations

Golob's liberal Freedom Movement joined the Left party on Wednesday to submit a formal proposal to parliament to impeach Jansa and remove Foreign Minister Kajzer. The opposition asserted that the new policy serves Israeli interests exclusively and described the embassy opening as a political return of favor for support during the election. Slovenian authorities had previously investigated whether the Israeli private intelligence agency Black Cube had produced covert recordings alleging corruption within Golob's cabinet. Jansa acknowledged meeting a Black Cube representative before the vote but denied any involvement in creating the recordings. Former Slovenian president Danilo Türk criticized the administration's trajectory in remarks to AFP.

“Slovenia has become an instrument of Israeli policy.”

Public protests and polling

Several thousand people demonstrated outside the hotel hosting the inauguration ceremony in Ljubljana on Wednesday evening. Protesters carried banners with slogans including "We stand together for peace and Palestine" and "Genocide is not self-defence." The rally was organized by student movements, left-wing parties, and pro-Palestinian advocacy groups. A survey conducted in June by the Slovenian daily newspaper Delo found that 56% of Slovenians opposed closer ties with Israel, while 14% supported them. Political analyst Andraz Zorko told AP that the diplomatic pivot does not align with prevailing public opinion in the country of two million people.

Opposed56%

Supported14%

Opposed

56 %

Supported

14 %

Data from the article text