Janez Janša
Slovenian politician, leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party; prime minister again from June 2026
| Janez Janša
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Slovenian |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | Leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS); admitted meeting Black Cube adviser Giora Eiland before the March 2026 election; prime minister from June 2026 |
| Predecessor | Robert Golob (as prime minister, 2026) |
Janez Janša is a Slovenian right-wing politician, leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and a former prime minister. In March 2026, days before a parliamentary election, he admitted meeting Giora Eiland, an adviser to the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube, after Slovenia's intelligence agency linked Black Cube representatives to a visit to the street where the SDS has its headquarters. He formed a government in June 2026 that reversed Slovenia's measures against Israel.
Politico Europe described Janša before the 2026 election as "the right-wing populist" and "a pro-MAGA, four-time former premier".[1]
Black Cube and the 2026 election
About twelve days before the parliamentary election of 22 March 2026, covert recordings of figures linked to Robert Golob's government appeared on an anonymous website. The meetings had been set up by a supposed British investment fund, Stockard Capital.[2] On 16 March the 8 March Institute and Mladina published an investigation, titled "How Israelis met with Janez Janša", that began from an unofficial report that on 22 December 2025 Janša had met several Israeli citizens outside the SDS headquarters on Trstenjakova ulica in Ljubljana. From flight data and other sources it identified two passengers on an Israeli private jet that day as Black Cube's chief executive Dan Zorella and adviser Giora Eiland.[2] Reuters reported that Janša denied a meeting on 22 December.[3]
On 18 March a state secretary said the intelligence agency SOVA had found that a team including Zorella spent time on 11 December on the street where the SDS has its headquarters, though he did not say they entered the building. That night Janša admitted meeting Eiland but said he could not recall the date. He threatened to sue Nika Kovač of the 8 March Institute. His party said that if the Black Cube officials had "truly uncovered all this corruption of unimaginable proportions", "a monument should be erected in the middle of Ljubljana" to them.[1] On 20 March the government named Eiland, Liron Tzur and Zorella in connection with a visit to Trstenjakova ulica 8 on 10–11 December 2025, and said police were investigating.[4] No source reviewed for this page shows who commissioned the recordings, and nobody has been charged.
Return to government
The SDS came a close second in the election: Responsible Statecraft gave the vote shares as 28.17 per cent for the SDS and 28.54 per cent for Golob's Freedom Movement.[5] On 22 May 2026 the National Assembly elected Janša prime minister-designate with 51 votes in the 90-seat chamber, and his cabinet took office on 4 June. The government described it as Slovenia's "first-ever government composed entirely of right-of-centre parties".[6][7]
Within a week the new government lifted Slovenia's entry bans on Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his ministers, ended a ban on imports from Israeli settlements and ended an embargo on arms exports and transit to and from Israel.[8] In late June Janša told Israel Hayom that the coalition would freeze Slovenia's recognition of Palestine and move the embassy to Jerusalem.[9] No source reviewed for this page establishes a causal link between Black Cube's activity and these policy changes.
Opposition motions for a parliamentary inquiry into the recordings and the Black Cube visits were blocked by the governing majority in June and July 2026.[10] Full detail is on Black Cube in Slovenia.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ali Walker, Sebastian Starcevic and Antoaneta Roussi, Black Cube, leaked tapes and corruption: Israeli spy firm crashes Slovenia's election, Politico Europe, 19 March 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Borut Mekina, Achiya Schatz, Filip Dobranić and Nika Kovač, How Israelis met with Janez Janša (English version of the 8 March Institute investigation report), Mladina, 16 March 2026.
- ↑ Israeli spy firm's alleged visit to Slovenia raises tensions on eve of vote, Reuters, 17 March 2026.
- ↑ Government Communication Office, New findings on foreign interference in Slovenia's elections, Government of the Republic of Slovenia, 20 March 2026.
- ↑ Eldar Mamedov, 'Private Mossad' goes after pro-Palestinian leader in Slovenia, Responsible Statecraft (critical; analysis and opinion), 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Slovenia approves Jansa as PM-designate, paving way for reforms, Reuters, 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Government Communication Office, National Assembly confirms new government cabinet, Government of the Republic of Slovenia, 5 June 2026.
- ↑ Associated Press, Slovenia's new government lifts entry ban on Netanyahu and other measures against Israel, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026.
- ↑ Janša napovedal zamrznitev priznanja Palestine in selitev veleposlaništva v Jeruzalem (Janša announces freeze on recognition of Palestine and embassy move to Jerusalem), RTV Slovenija/STA, 26 June 2026.
- ↑ STA, Vlada objavila poročilo nemških forenzikov: datoteke so bile obdelane, DZ (znova) zavrnil preiskavo afere Black Cube (Government publishes German forensic report: files were processed; National Assembly again rejects Black Cube inquiry), Slovenske novice/Delo, 10 July 2026.