Israel and Slovenia established diplomatic relations on 28 April 1992.[1] Although Israel does not have an embassy in Slovenia, the Israeli embassy in Vienna serves as a non-resident diplomatic mission to Slovenia, and Slovenia has had an embassy in Tel Aviv since 1 August 1994.[2][3]
In July 2025, Slovenia imposed entry bans on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, aligning its actions with similar measures previously taken by other countries.[4] Days later, Slovenia announced a comprehensive embargo on the import, export, and transit of arms and military equipment to and from Israel.[5]
History
In 1998, Israel and Slovenia signed an agreement on promotion and protection of investments which entered into force in 1999,[6] and in 2007, Israel and Slovenia signed an agreement on the avidness of double taxation which entered into force in the same year.[7] In 2006 the President of the Republic of Slovenia Janez Drnovšek visited Israel,[8] and in 2010 the President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres visited Slovenia.[9] In 2020, Slovenia designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.[10] In 2021, Israeli paratroopers parachuted into Slovenia to honor poet and anti-Nazi fighter Hannah Szenes.[11] In 2024, former prime minister and opposition leader Janez Janša visited Israel and promised to relocate the Slovenian embassy to Jerusalem should he become prime minister again.[12]
The Jewish community of Slovenia is small with approximately 100 to 300 members, most of whom live in Ljubljana. A synagogue was opened in 2021.[24]
Slovenian criticism of Israel and antisemitism
In 2016, Slovenian supermarket chain Mercator imposed a boycott on Israeli products after pressure from local Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists. The decision was reversed two days later, following a protest from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.[25]
In February 2023, the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to president Nataša Pirc Musar expressing concern about what it called antisemitism expressed by journalists within the national public broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), citing tweets accusing the Israeli government of apartheid and Jewish supremacy, with one tweet also praising Hamas.[26]
In December 2024, the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV called for a ban on Israel from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.[27]
In January 2025, a medieval synagogue in Maribor was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti reading "Jews are the evil of the world".[28]
Slovenia Grove
Slovenia Grove (also known as the Bunker Grove) is a grove located in northern Israel. It is named after three bunkers built by the British during World War II to store bombs and ammunition for the RAF base in Ramat David. The British also planted the grove, which was intended to camouflage the bunkers. The Jewish National Fund and the Honorary Consul of Slovenia in Haifa developed and donated the grove.[29][30]
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