Poland has said that it is downgrading ties with Israel after relations soured over a Polish law that makes it harder for the country’s Jews to recover their property stolen by the Nazis during and after World War II.
On Thursday, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced that it will not be returning its ambassador to Israel for the time being. The move will bring Poland’s mission to Israel down to the chargé d’affaires level, similar to that of the Israeli mission in Poland.
The Ministry noted that its ambassador, Marek Magierowski, has been appointed to serve in the country’s mission in Washington. Polish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lukasz Jasina told the Associated Press on Thursday that Warsaw has “no plans at the moment to propose a new person for the position of ambassador.”
Tensions between Israel and Poland spiked in August when Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a controversial law blocking property restitution claims by heirs of Jewish victims whose properties were stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust and later confiscated by Poland’s communist regime. The law set a 30-year time limit to legal challenges to restitution claims and also banned any outstanding claims for the return of stolen property that have not reached a final decision in the last 30 years.
Following the passing of the law, Israel recalled its top diplomat to Poland, Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon, for “consultations” and noted that it will not send a replacement. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the law “anti-Semitic and unethical.” He said the legislation reflected that Poland is an “anti-democratic and illiberal country that does not honour the greatest tragedy in human history,” referring to the millions of Jews killed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime during World War II.
Responding to Israel’s withdrawal, Poland immediately recalled its ambassador to Israel. Furthermore, Lapid asked the Polish ambassador not to return to Israel and “remain on holiday in his country.”
The United States (US) has also criticised the law, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “deeply troubling.” Blinken had said that a “comprehensive law for resolving confiscated property claims is needed to provide some measure of justice for victims.”
Poland has also opposed any attempts to compensate the families of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The country argues that it was also a victim of Nazi Germany and suffered greatly during the war and as a result, it is unfair to ask Poland to deliver reparations when it has not received compensation from Germany.
Polish far-right groups have protested the US’ Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act of 2017 that calls on European countries affected by the Holocaust to either return properties of Jews stolen during the war or compensate the victims. Polish protestors have accused the US of unfairly targeting Poland.
Polish opposition to the restitution of property coincides with a rise in anti-Semitism in Poland and Europe. Poland has recently witnessed an increasing number of hate speech incidents against its Jewish community and rising incidents of anti-Jewish street demonstrations. Earlier this month, Poland’s Jewish community said in a statement that the country’s Jews “have not experienced such contempt and hatred expressed in public for years.”
There has also been a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents across Europe over the last few years. The European Jewish Congress reported in 2018 that Europe’s Jewish community has been facing levels of anti-Semitism “not seen since the Second World War.” According to reports, racism against Jews has been pronounced in Poland, Hungary, France, and the United Kingdom. According to a 2021 IPSOS survey, anti-Semitism in Europe is “deep-rooted and increasing” and sets dangerous trends for the future of minorities in the continent.
Poland Downgrades Ties With Israel, Says Ambassador Won’t Return
Poland has recently witnessed an increasing number of hate speech incidents against its Jewish community and rising incidents of anti-Semitic street demonstrations.
November 26, 2021
Far-right demonstrators protest against the US Holocaust Restitution bill, in Warsaw, May 11, 2019. IMAGE SOURCE: AFP