In his address, which marked the end of the official part of his Israeli visit of several days, Josipovic said that once Croatia joined the European Union, Israel would get yet another friend in that organisation.

The special parliament session at which Josipovic spoke was also attended by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Parliament Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

Josipovic said that in WWII Croatia there was a widespread anti-fascist movement and that he himself "is the son of one of Tito's partisans." However, it is also true that one of the most horrible, criminal, Nazi collaborator regimes in Europe was established in Croatia, Josipovic said.

Over and over again, we must face the unpleasant fact that aside from the glorious anti-fascist movement, there were members of our nation who were organised to carry out horrible crimes against humanity, he said.

In the perverted mind of the Ustasha, the non-Aryans - the Serbs, the Jews and the Roma - just like the political opponents of the Ustasha regime - had to be swept away from the face of the earth, Josipovic said, adding that "we must always remember... because our children must know what is good and what is evil."

"Here I am, standing before the parliament of the State of Israel, and, even more importantly, before the children of Croatia... and I apologise. I implore the forgiveness of the surviving Holocaust victims, you and all the other victims," the Croatian president said.

Continuing his address, Josipovic commented on the Middle East peace process, saying that during his stay in Israel the two most frequently mentioned words were peace and cooperation.

"Our experience teaches us that peace is not possible unless the parties involved accept the reality. It teaches us that peace is not possible without compromise," Josipovic said, adding that a solution to the Middle East crisis based on two states must "start and end with the recognition of the Israeli state by the Palestinians and of the Palestinian state by the Israeli state." "We have learned a painful lesson and it is our duty to warn: To dream about destroying others ends by waking up to a nightmare."

Josipovic stressed that Croatia was about to join the EU and that the peace-starved Israel was about to get yet another friend and ally in the EU.

Speaking of possibilities for strengthening the economic cooperation between the two countries, Josipovic said Croatia admired Israel's success in the creation of one of the most successful knowledge-based economies.

Croatia wants to achieve progress benefitting from Israel's wonder of knowledge and we will do our best to make the cooperation in developing a knowledge-based economy as efficient as possible, he said.

"We are offering you friendship and partnership for the future well-being of our countries and peoples," he said.

Josipovic recalled that Croatia could soon adopt changes to legislation on property restitution, including the restitution of property confiscated during World War II.

"The process of denationalisation has so far referred only to the victims of the communist expropriation. However, it would be fair and responsible to include the Holocaust victims in the law on property restitution," he said.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, describing Josipovic as a person of many interests, a musician, legal expert and statesman, said he welcomed his sincere and brave words, as well as the friendship between Croatia and Israel.

PM Netanyahu said that after the horrible WWII tragedy, when in Croatia 80 percent of the Jews were killed, Josipovic's leadership symbolised the hope that the future could be different.

I am certain that your visit here symbolises not only a new friendship but also a new partnership between our two countries, Netanyahu said.

During his visit to the Knesset, Josipovic held separate talks with Speaker Rivlin and the leader of the main Opposition Kadima party, Tzipi Livni. He laid a wreath at the monument to the fallen Israeli fighters in front of the parliament building.

By visiting the Knesset, Josipovic ended the official part of his visit to Israel during which he talked with all the highest state officials. Josipovic and the Croatian delegation also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance museum where he laid a wreath, and he also visited Ramallah where he met with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.