Poland evacuates ambassador’s children from Israel as PM condemns “hatred of Poles in this country”

Poland has decided to evacuate the children of its ambassador to Israel amid a growing diplomatic row over a restitution law. The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, condemned what he described as the Israeli government’s “aggressive actions”, which he said were stirring “hatred towards Poles”.

His actions follow Israel’s decision over the weekend to effectively downgrade its diplomatic relations with Poland by withdrawing its top envoy, chargé d’affaires Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon, from the country. Its newly appointed ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, has been asked to remain in Israel.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that Poland’s new restitution legislation, signed into law by President Andrzej Duda on Saturday, is “immoral and antisemitic”. He also asked the Polish ambassador, Marek Magierowski, not to return to Israel.

According to reports today in Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, the Israeli government is also considering pulling out of an agreement signed between Morawiecki and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 that ended a previous dispute over Poland’s so-called “Holocaust law”.

In response, Morawiecki described Israel’s decisions and language as “unfounded and irresponsible”, adding that Israeli officials were “exploiting the tragedy [of the war] for party-political reasons”.

“A consequence of the recent aggressive actions of the Israeli government is an increase in hatred of Poland and Poles in this country,” wrote Morawiecki. “For this reason, I made the decision to safely transport our ambassador’s children to Poland.”

The dispute was set off by a law effectively preventing certain claims on property seized during the Nazi German occupation and post-war communist period, which was passed by parliament on Thursday with 309 votes in favour and none against.

Lapid has said that the law – which does not exclusively apply to restitution for Holocaust survivors but would make claims harder for them and their descendants – is “a disgrace” that “damages both the memory of the Holocaust and the rights of its victims”.

“The days of Poles harming Jews without consequence have passed and will not return,” he added at the weekend. Lapid also threatened a joint future response with the US, with whom he said Israel was “holding discussions”.

In response, Morawiecki wrote that “anyone who has lost property has the right to claim compensation” but that such demands may not “deprive others of a roof over their heads”.

President Duda also released a statement explaining that he had signed the legislation in order to “end this era of legal chaos”. He noted that the law has bipartisan support in Poland, and he “unequivocally rejected” the idea that it was aimed at Holocaust survivors.

Following the withdrawal of Israeli diplomats to Poland, the Polish foreign minister said that it would take “appropriate diplomatic and political action” according to the “principle of reciprocity”.

The legislation in question implements a 2015 ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, which stated that there should be a limit on the period in which it is possible to make claims against decisions issued in violation of the law, such as the illegitimate seizure of property.

The bill would amend the existing law by introducing a 30-year limit. This would mean that claims for property confiscated during the Second World War or the communist era could not be made.

Poland has long faced international criticism over its failure to pass a comprehensive restitution law, but its authorities argue that Jews have always had the same rights to reclaim property in Poland as anyone else.

Magierowski has served as Poland’s ambassador to Israel since 2018. Two years ago, an Israeli man was convicted for spitting at Magierowski after claiming he had been denied entry to the Polish embassy to inquire about Jewish property lost after the Holocaust.

Main image credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Maria Wilczek

Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.