President Milanović Warns: Cooperation between the Croatian Armed Forces and the Israeli Military Will Not Happen
“If the Minister of Defense or anyone else wants to enter into this kind of arrangement with Israel — the procurement of the so-called David’s Sling system — that would also require cooperation between the Croatian Armed Forces and the Israeli military: personnel from the General Staff, operational units and the command structure. By God, that will not happen. The Croatian Armed Forces, under my order, will not take part in it,” President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday, commenting on reports that the Minister of Defense is negotiating with Israel over the procurement of the so-called David’s Sling system.
“This is a warning — do not do it. Not a single Croatian soldier will take part in it. If civilians were to do it, it would be the first time in history,” President Milanović added. Referring to the David’s Sling system itself, he said that “even if it were the last such system in the world — which it is not — it is replaceable.”
President Milanović also warned that the Minister of Defense is negotiating with Israel at the very moment “when Israel is arming our closest neighbor, which we regard as a security concern — I am referring to Serbia.”
Speaking about Israeli arms sales to Serbia, he explained: “It began a year ago when Serbia purchased a multiple rocket launcher system from Israel with a range of 300 kilometers. It is an even more offensive weapon than what the Chinese allegedly sold them. Perhaps the minister should ask his friends in Tel Aviv — why did you sell it to Serbia? Israel is actively arming a country that both Plenković and the minister describe as an adversary. Do they see any inconsistency there, any reason to ask Israel why it is doing that? No, it is considered an ally.”
“That ally, from whom the minister is seeking to buy the so-called David’s Sling, is arming Serbia — and not only arming it, not only supplying highly offensive weapons, against which defense is even more difficult than against hypersonic missiles — but also helping integrate all the weapons Serbia has acquired into a ‘kill chain’, acting as system integrators. These are the same Israelis with whom the minister is negotiating the procurement of the so-called David’s Sling,” the President warned.
He also asked Prime Minister Plenković why, in his letter to the NATO Secretary General, he had not raised the issue of Israel as well. “Cooperation with Israel requires trust, and I do not trust someone who arms my challenger. It is difficult for me to understand why some people do not see this — or pretend not to see it — and why they are dragging us into it,” President Milanović concluded.