The firm Dickens & Madson, which was hired by the Government of Republika Srpska, stated in its reports that the support for the independence of this entity from Bosnia and Herzegovina was given by the officials of Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The Canadian lobbying house Dickens & Madson Canada Inc., led by Ari Ben-Menashe, describes what it did for the RS in two semi-annual reports submitted to the US Department of Justice.
The reports were submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and cover the periods until December 31, 2025 and until June 30, 2026. They state that the company represented the RS in “the goal of gaining independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
In the description of the services, D&M states that it advised the RS and represented it before various branches of government in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in order to secure political support for the consolidation and strengthening of the entity’s political position. He adds that RS officials want independence from BiH.
“In the context of representing the Republika Srpska and its goal of gaining independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, D&M had several meetings with the Office of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the Office of the President of Israel,” this report states.
He states that both governments have close relations with the RS and Bosnia and Herzegovina and that they have an “interest in the independence of the RS”. It is also stated that these governments will discuss the issue of RS independence with the authorities in the United States of America, but it is not known whether these discussions took place.
By the way, the Government of the RS signed the contract with this company on September 6, 2025, and reports show that they have paid four million dollars so far. However, there is another six-month lobbying period in progress, and because of this, the payments must have increased. The next report should show that.
Because of this contract, as well as the overall lobbying of the RS in the USA, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted at its 174th plenary session.
Then a decision was made that prohibited all payments from the RS budget under the contract with D&M. The ban also includes other lobbying activities for and on behalf of the RS through lobbying agencies for goals that, as stated in the decision, are in conflict with the Constitution of BiH, the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the institutions of BiH.
The National Assembly, the Government of the RS and their responsible persons, including representative offices abroad, were ordered to suspend activities related to the payments.
Let us remind you that this company is run by its founder Ari Ben-Menashe, an Israeli-Canadian businessman who claims to be a former Israeli military intelligence officer, and is headquartered in Montreal.
Ben-Menashe lobbied in 2019 for Sudan’s Transitional Military Council, in 2021 for Myanmar’s military junta, and some of the money for lobbying for former Kyrgyz leader Sadir Japarov came from Russia.
He was interrogated in Zimbabwe in 2002 on charges of “eliminating” Robert Mugabe, based on recordings of meetings with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai was eventually acquitted.
Among the current clients in the reports are, in addition to the RS, the Sovereign Council of Sudan, the Republic of Vanuatu, Kyrgyzstan, DP World and politicians from Africa, Klix.ba writes.
