Netanyahu backs Slovenian PM in internal clash over Israel

Under Janša, the government dropped all the anti-Israel sanctions adopted by his predecessor, Robert Golob of the left-wing Freedom Movement.

By Canaan Lindor, JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday backed his Slovenian counterpart, Janez Janša, amid a public row between Janša and Slovenia’s president over the E.U. position on Israeli construction east of Jerusalem.

Netanyahu thanked Janša on X for his “courage and clarity amidst E.U. hypocrisy.”

This was after Janša, who is a right-wing politician supportive of Israel, clashed publicly with Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar, a left-wing critic of the Jewish state, over Ljubljana’s refusal to join other E.U. member states in condemning construction plans in the E1 area, an undeveloped part of the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’aleh Adumim.

The clash began last week, when Pirc Musar published a statement that criticized the decision by Janša’s government to refrain from supporting a draft condemnation by all 27 members of the European Union against the Israeli plan.

Slovenia’s stance prevented a united position by member states, according to the EUobserver news site.

The European Commission’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, issued a condemnation of the plans.

Pirc Musar “emphasizes that Slovenia must support the joint statement of the European Union regarding the further expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,” her office wrote.

“International law is not a matter of political choice and there must be no double standards in its respect. It applies equally to everyone,” the statement also read.

The presidential statement followed an unusual defense by Janša of the decision not to join the other 26 member states.

On Aug. 27, he wrote: “In truth, we have merely extricated Slovenia from the vicious cycle of losing credibility through the incessant, disproportionate condemnations of Israel for every move it makes.”

Janša responded on Friday to Pirc Musar’s criticism, disputing the framing of Slovenia as an entity that is forced to follow a group position.

“Slovenia is a sovereign state and an equal member of the E.U., and without our consent (or the consent of any other member state), there is no ‘European foreign policy position’ that we would be obliged to support. We are co-decision makers, not servants,” Janša wrote on X.

He also said there was a discrepancy between Pirc Musar’s declared adherence to international law, and the fact that she publicly accused Israel of perpetrating genocide—including at a 2025 European Parliament speech—despite the absence of a ruling on the matter by international law bodies.

“Swearing allegiance to international law while at the same time speaking of genocide in Gaza or in Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank), which no competent institution has determined under international law—this is a political choice of a special kind,” Janša said.

On X, Netanyahu’s official account featured a statement by him on Sunday, thanking Janša and backing his position in the argument with Pirc Musar.

The E.U., Netanyahu wrote, “remains silent when Turkey, a NATO member, illegally occupies half of Cyprus—an E.U. member! Yet when the Jewish people want to exercise their historic right to build and live in their ancestral homeland, the E.U. is outraged. You reminded everyone that Slovenia is a sovereign state and an equal member of the E.U. That is not a provocation. It is a right that some wish to deny. Thank you, Janez, for your conviction and leadership.”

Under Janša, the government dropped all the anti-Israel sanctions adopted by his predecessor, Robert Golob of the left-wing Freedom Movement.

Pirc Musar ran for president as an independent but had the support of the Freedom Movement and another left-wing party. Janša’s party, SDS, supported her opponent.