Israel said on Sunday it has named its first-ever resident ambassador to Slovenia, signaling a diplomatic reset after Ljubljana’s change of government.
– Ties between Israel and Slovenia had soured under the previous center-left government of prime minister Robert Golob, which had characterized Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as “genocide.”
– But ties have warmed significantly since conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa took office.
– Israel’s foreign ministry announced that Ruth Cohen Dar — until now non-resident ambassador to Slovenia and Malta — will become the country’s first permanent envoy in Ljubljana.
– The move follows Israel’s decision last month to open an embassy in Slovenia.
– “The decision to establish the embassy was made after many years of a downturn in relations between Israel and Slovenia and following the formation of a new government in Slovenia headed by Janez Jansa, a friend of Israel,” the ministry said.
– Slovenia’s new conservative-led government lifted an arms embargo on Israel, scrapped entry bans on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his ministers and reversed a ban on imports from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
– Jansa’s government has also removed a Palestinian flag symbolically displayed on the government building since Slovenia recognized Palestinian statehood in 2024.