Jerusalem has no great expectation that Croatia's EU accession means that Israel will get another significant supportive voice inside the EU. Not because Israel and Croatia do not enjoy good relations, but because Croatia, because of its small size, geography and economic problems, is not expected to wield much influence over EU policy, the daily wrote.
The EU's enlargement over the last decade has brought into its ranks a number of former Iron Curtain countries which have often taken a more supportive policy of Israel inside EU institutions, although this did not bring major changes in the European policy.
"Foremost among those countries is the Czech Republic, but also countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Baltic countries. For instance, the EU split last November at the UN General Assembly vote on whether to grant the Palestinians non-member statehood status. While 14 EU countries voted for the proposal, that number did not include any of the former Iron Curtain countries," the daily wrote.
"The only EU country that voted with Israel was the Czech Republic, and of the 12 EU countries that abstained, nine of those were former Soviet Bloc countries. It is expected that Croatia will join that bloc inside the EU. Croatia abstained in the UN vote, as well as in the vote to grant the Palestinians membership in UNESCO in 2011."
Israeli officials do not "expect Croatia to have an influential voice inside the EU on Mideast deliberations, and that rather than taking a lead on these issues it would most likely follow its perception of the EU consensus," the Jerusalem Post wrote.
It recalled that Israel established diplomatic relations with Croatia in 1997. "The relationship got off to a rocky start, however," in the first years of Franjo Tudjman's presidential term because he "downplayed the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust."
"Relations between Israel and Croatia greatly improved after a new, pro-Western government came to power in early 2000. Diplomatic officials characterized the current state of relations between the two countries as 'friendly,' with Croatia an increasingly popular destination for Israeli tourists", wrote the Jerusalem Post.