Israel has decided to restore its chargé d’affaires to the embassy in Warsaw. She was recalled earlier this year – as were both countries’ ambassadors – amid a dispute over Poland introducing a law that prevents restitution claims by some Holocaust survivors.
The decision for Tal Ben-Ari to return to Warsaw was first reported last night by Israeli journalist Amichai Stein, who said it was the result of “several positive steps in recent weeks by the Polish government in fighting antisemitism”. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the decision today to the Times of Israel.
Ben-Ari was withdrawn in August after Poland passed the restitution law. She had previously appeared in parliament herself, alongside a Holocaust survivor, to speak out against the legislation, which Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid, called “antisemitic and unethical”. The US government also expressed “deep concern” over the law.
A new Israeli ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, was appointed in June but has not yet arrived in the country. Meanwhile, Poland’s ambassador to Israel, Marek Magierowski, came to Poland in the summer and was asked by Lapid not to return. He has since been made the Polish envoy to the US.
The Polish government has defended the restitution law, which was passed with cross-party support. It argues that the measures are necessary to end legal uncertainty and denies that they discriminate against Jewish claimants. It accused the Israeli government of stirring “hatred of Poland and Poles”.
However, according to Israel’s Maariv newspaper, Warsaw has sought to repair ties in recent weeks. It condemned this week’s terror attack in Jerusalem, and in September was one of the countries that boycotted a UN anti-racism conference over concerns about previous expressions of antisemitism there.
Government figures and the president, Andrzej Duda, strongly condemned an antisemitic march organised by nationalists in Poland earlier this month. The organisers were quickly arrested and charged.
In October, the Polish government announced that it would recognise the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism as part of international efforts to “counteract this phenomenon”.
Earlier this month, the Israeli foreign ministry’s spokesman told the Times of Israel that improving ties is “basically up to Poland” because they had created the crisis by passing the restitution law. “In order to fix the problem, they should address it,” he added.
Today, he said that, because the legislation had still not been addressed, Israel’s ambassador would not be coming to Warsaw in the immediate future. The Times of Israel reports that Polish officials have indicated they want both countries to restore their ambassadors.
Main image credit: IWONA BURDZANOWSKA / AG
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
