Members of the Croatia-Israel Interparliamentary Friendship Group lit candles on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Zagreb on Tuesday, with Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic saying that Israel can continue to count on the support of the Croatian people.

Jandrokovic expressed his regret that this year the Jewish holiday is marked by a bloody war with Hamas. He said that Croatia, considering its experiences of the war in the 1990s, understands what Israel is going through.

“We immediately condemned the crime that happened on 7 October, and it was hard to believe that such a thing was possible. We can understand very well what a crime means, what a victim means, and you can continue to count on the support of the Croatian people,” Jandrokovic said in his address in the Croatian Parliament.

“We are Catholics and we have our own values, but at the same time we respect others, we respect those who celebrate light, hope and love, first among our own and then among those who are different from them,” he added.

At this time of the year, Christians also light candles on the Advent wreath in preparation for Christmas, and the traditional lighting of candles symbolises light defeating darkness, said the head of the Interparliamentary Friendship Group, Marijana Petir.

“Hanukkah reminds us that light can be found even in the darkest moments, and we are all witnesses that unfortunately there are more and more such moments. Only together, having respect and understanding for each other, can we build bridges between different cultures, religions and peoples,” she emphasised.

Hanukkah teaches us that miracles are possible, Israeli Ambassador Gary Koren said.

Koren said he is confident in the victory of the Jewish people over the Hamas terrorists and in the freedom of their hostages. He thanked the members of the Croatian Parliament who recently visited Israel for seeing for themselves what a difficult enemy Israel is fighting against.

Israeli Parliament Speaker Amir Ohana invited his Croatian counterpart to visit Israel and see the kibbutzim along the border with the Gaza Strip where many crimes were committed in the 7 October attacks.

We did not forget how Croatia voted in the UN General Assembly in October, as only four European countries voted in favour of Israel. We very much appreciate Croatia’s principled position and we do not take it for granted, Ohana said.