![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Spitfire.avif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA replica of a Supermarine Spitfire fighter jet honors the 1948 \u201cOperation Velvet\u201d in Nik\u0161i\u0107, Montenegro \u2014 a monument unveiled in 2024 that symbolizes Montenegro\u2019s historic friendship with Israel. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The monument, unveiled in 2024, commemorates \u201cOperation Velvetta\u201d \u2014 a top-secret plan that ferried 17 Supermarine Spitfire aircraft from Czechoslovakia, via what was then Yugoslavia, to Israel in 1948. The brazen scheme, carried out under the noses of British and Soviet spies, helped ensure the fledgling Jewish state\u2019s military superiority during its War of Independence.<\/p>\n
At the monument\u2019s base, a bronze plaque in Serbian, English and Hebrew calls it \u201ca permanent reminder to the unbreakable friendship of Montenegro and Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet lately, that friendship is being tested in ways not seen since Montenegro \u2014 smallest of the six republics that once comprised Yugoslavia \u2014 declared its independence in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, there\u2019s antisemitism here. It\u2019s much better than some other places, but the situation has changed,\u201d said Rabbi Ari Edelkopf, who heads the Religious Jewish Community of Montenegro in Podgorica, the capital. \u201cWhen I came here, I never believed we\u2019d need 24-hour security. But since Oct. 7, we\u2019ve had Free Gaza marches in all the major cities. My office is following every antisemitic portal here in Montenegro,\u201d he said, referring to websites that report local news. \u201cWe\u2019re paying a lawyer to monitor all this.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRabbi Ari Edelkopf, a Los Angeles-born Chabad emissary, reads a story about himself in a Podgorica newspaper in April 2026. Edelkopf heads the Religious Jewish Community of Montenegro. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Several recent incidents involving Israeli visitors to this Connecticut-sized country of 625,000, have unnerved the local Jewish community, which numbers fewer than 1,000, even as the capital is on the verge of getting a major new Jewish cultural center set for completion this fall.<\/p>\n
In the Adriatic beach resort of Budva, a recent violent brawl between local Montenegrins and some 20 Israeli tourists has triggered alarm among both local Jews and Israeli tourists.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still unclear who or what provoked the incident, which took place after midnight July 12 at a beach bar where the Israelis \u2014 12 men and eight women \u2014 had been drinking. Edelkopf said he believed the incident had begun with a personal altercation but escalated when the locals realized the tourists they were sparring with were Israeli.<\/p>\n
According to an Israeli government alert about the incident, the locals \u201cshouted \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 and \u2018F*** Israel\u2019\u201d after learning about the origins of the tourists, who the alert said were not wearing indicators of their national or religious identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they came back with a few friends and really beat the hell out of them,\u201d said Edelkopf, a Chabad rabbi who\u2019s originally from Los Angeles and who\u2019s lived in Montenegro for nine years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put out cigarettes on their faces, and threw metal chairs and tables at them. It was horrible and very aggressive,\u201d he said. \u201cMost of the Israelis were injured; one of them had a broken jaw.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nA pro-Palestinian mural painted on the side of a Podgorica apartment building has been the site of multiple pro-Palestinian rallies in Montenegro. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Israeli government assisted in helping the Israeli tourists expedite their flights out of Montenegro, though one member of the group remained in the country while hospitalized, according to Israel\u2019s National Center for Combating Antisemitism, an initiative of the Diaspora ministry. The ministry\u2019s alert said that police failed to intervene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am waiting for the Montenegrin government to take action,\u201d Edelkopf told JTA from his Podgorica synagogue, which was previously a private house. \u201cUntil now, they have not offered any official response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the recent hostilities, the rabbi said, Montenegro has long welcomed Israeli tourists as well as residents. And Jews have been living here for millennia before Yugoslavia existed.<\/p>\n
Ruins dating from the 4th century C.E. indicate a flourishing Jewish community in Kotor, not far from Budva along the Adriatic. In fact, one of the country\u2019s most important religious sites is the presumed tomb of Shabbatai Zvi, located in nearby Ulcinj. The 17th-century Jewish false messiah died shortly after his exile there in 1673 by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled much of the present-day Balkans.<\/p>\n
While most Montenegrins are Eastern Orthodox Christians, about 20% are Muslims of either Bosnian or Albanian origin. In 1992, after communism collapsed and Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia broke away from the former Yugoslavia, the remaining two republics \u2014 Serbia and Montenegro \u2014 created the new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nA citizen of Montenegro beats a pot next to a placard reading “Zionism Is Not Dead Yet, And We Don’t Know When It Will Be” that features a swastika inside a Jewish star during a pro-Palestinian rally in Podgorica, Sept. 14, 2025. (Savo Prelevic \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In 2006, Montenegro declared independence following a referendum on the issue, and six years later, then-Prime Minister Igor Luk\u0161i\u0107 granted Judaism recognition as the country\u2019s fourth official religion, alongside the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and Islam.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jews are very well accepted here,\u201d said Nikolla Camaj, vice-president of Montenegro\u2019s parliament and one of five ethnic Albanians in the 81-member body. \u201cOfficially we have very good relations with Israel, and people support the idea that Israel must be protected. But there\u2019s a problem because in Montenegro we have a lot of Muslims \u2014 Albanians and Bosniaks \u2014 and they don\u2019t like what\u2019s happening in Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Podgorica, a huge mural painted on an apartment building two blocks from the municipal bus terminal depicts Gazan refugee children, a slice of watermelon symbolizing the Palestinian resistance, and the declaration \u201cMontenegro Stands With Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
In early July, Israeli tourists visiting Plav \u2014 a resort town near Montenegro\u2019s borders with Kosovo and Albania \u2014 were harassed by a local couple, who called the visitors \u201cbaby killers.\u201d<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t surprise Edelkopf at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal people are being fed articles translated from very strong anti-Israel news outlets,\u201d the rabbi said. \u201cThe main TV channels and online portals here are filled with lies and garbage against Israel, and the people have started to believe that Israel is committing genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nA Star of David forms part of the design of the Jewish Cultural Center under construction in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Even so, Israeli tourists keep coming. In 2025, according to official figures, 110,249 of them visited Montenegro \u2014 up from 73,513 the year before \u2014 most of them via direct flights from Tel Aviv. A Facebook group for Israelis planning trips to Montenegro has more than 80,000 members, who swap advice and share photos and tips from their trips.<\/p>\n
Israel has no embassy in this country; instead, it\u2019s represented by Avivit Bar-Ilan, Israel\u2019s resident ambassador in Serbia, who could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Montenegro\u2019s few Jews are split between Edelkopf\u2019s traditional Orthodox Jewish synagogue and the local progressive Jewish congregation led by its president, Nina Ofner Bokan.<\/p>\n
A computer science engineer, Ofner Bokan, 41, has represented her community since 2020. Last September, she was reelected unanimously for a five-year term. She\u2019s also senior advisor to the president of the Montenegrin parliament, and a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel very protected here, and we have an amazing relationship with all the other religious communities,\u201d Ofner Bokan said. \u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve made strong connections. \u2026 Jews can walk with a kippah or a Star of David without any problem.\u201d<\/p>\n