Mladen Ivanić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, planted a tree in the KKL-JNF Grove of Nations in Jerusalem at a ceremony held on March 13th, 2017, during his visit to Israel with his deputation.
The ceremony was attended by Bosnian Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak, Bosnian Ambassador to Israel Jelena Rajaković and cabinet members Andrijana Katić,Elvir Čamdžić, Nataša Zirojević and Frederick Dokić. The Israeli ministry of foreign affairs was represented by Israel’s Ambassador to Bosnia Boaz Rudkin, Director of the Balkan Department Dan Oryan and Director of the Official Guests’ Department Galit Cohen. KKL-JNF’s Chief of Protocol Andy Michelson presided over the ceremony.
Five minutes before the Bosnian delegation came for the planting ceremony, heavy rain was still beating down on Jerusalem. However, just as the guests arrived, the rain stopped, and, after the order of events had been changed slightly, the ceremony proceeded as planned. First of all, President Mladen Ivanić unveiled the marble plaque on the recognition wall that bears his name as the honored planter of a tree in the Grove of Nations.
Immediately afterwards, the ceremony participants hastened to the woodland to perform the actual planting before rain could catch them once more.
Israel’s Ambassador to Bosnia Boaz Rudkin recited the Planter’s Prayer in English.
The President planted the tree and covered its roots with soil, and Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Crnadak lent a helping hand.
“Hold an umbrella and water the sapling,” Michelson joked, in recognition of the irony of irrigating a young olive tree on a rainy day.
After the planting and irrigation were complete, the President of Bosnia was presented with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of KKL-JNF, marking his tree planting ceremony in the planting ceremony in the Grove of Nations.
“The message delivered here by all these olive trees, which symbolize peace and new life – especially in this part of the world – is a vitally important one. After discussing the situation here with the Israeli president, I most certainly feel a sense of optimism,” declared President Mladen Ivanić of Bosnia in his speech at the ceremony.
“I should like to thank you again for this opportunity – and to tell you that I’ll be back here in a few years’ time to ensure that all is well with the tree I’ve planted. And if things don’t go well – then you’d better look out, because I’m from Bosnia,” joked the president.
Mladen Ivanić was born on September 16th, 1958, in the city of Sanski Most.
Since 1971 he has lived in Banja Luka, where he completed his studies with a degree in economics.
He later lived for a while in Belgrade, where he received his doctorate for a thesis entitled Contemporary Marxist Political Economy in the West and thereafter pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of Mannheim in Germany and the University of Glasgow in Scotland). Upon completion of his studies he worked as a journalist from 1985 until 1988 and lectured on political economy in the economics faculty at Banja Luka. His political career began in 1988, when he became a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He founded the center-right Bosnian Serb Party and held office as its president from 1999 until 2015. On November 17th 2014 he was elected president of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund has been in existence for 115 years. Since 1901 the organization has planted over 240 million trees in the Land of Israel. If we do the arithmetic, this works out at approximately seventeen thousand trees every week since 1901. KKL-JNF has become an international expert on afforestation and it collaborates with other countries on forestry-related issues,” explained Michelson during his speech at the ceremony.
Referring to President Ivanić’s remark earlier, Andy joked that from now on he would have to go back to the planting site every week to check on the health of the presidential tree, as he was liable to find himself in trouble with the Bosnians if it showed any signs of wilting.
After everyone left, the rain began to fall once more as if, now that the ceremony was safely over, the heavens could open again.