According to Warsaw’s acting ambassador to Israel over the weekend, the conflict in Ukraine contributed to the resolution of a contentious diplomatic standoff between Poland and Israel over the Holocaust.
The extent to which outside geopolitical factors contributed to the diplomatic rapprochement as both sides seek to move past disagreement on Holocaust-related issues is revealed by Chargé d’affaires Agata Czapliska’s remarks, which were made days after the nations announced that they were mending relations.
The decision by Israel to reinstate its ambassador to Poland last year, three days after the start of the war in Ukraine, to assist in removing citizens and refugees from the war-torn country, according to Czapliska, who has been acting as an ambassador for the past year, was a key factor in the two nations’ improved relations.
In an interview with JNS conducted in the Polish embassy in Tel Aviv, Czapliska stated that “this action undoubtedly contributed to strengthening our relationship.”
She stated that Yacov Livne, the Israeli ambassador to Poland, had “contributed significantly” to the deal announced in Warsaw last Wednesday and that the procedure would have taken considerably longer without his “extremely active engagement” and interactions with Polish authorities during the previous year.
Poland’s ambassador to Israel will be reinstated due to the agreement, and Israeli youth will once again travel to Poland for Holocaust education.
She stated that the conditions on our eastern border [with Ukraine] necessitated the [Israeli] ambassador’s attendance…and contributed to the current improvement in our ties.
During the two-year conflict, Poland acted as the main exit point from Ukraine.
After a two-year hiatus, a Polish ambassador to Israel is anticipated to resume his duties in the coming months.
Relations between the nations deteriorated when Poland’s government passed legislation that was perceived as erasing Poles’ involvement in the Holocaust and later outlawed Holocaust victims’ and their heirs’ requests for the return of property that had been confiscated.
The accord made an effort to put previous disagreements behind it.
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