Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the credentials of the new ambassadors of Poland and Malta to the Jewish state on Monday in two official ceremonies held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Hebrew media reported.
Polish ambassador Maciej Hunia, 64, will become the first Polish ambassador to Israel since 2021, after Israeli-Polish relations soured over Holocaust-related issues that were defused in 2023.
“We are pleased to welcome you here in Israel, and especially glad that after four years, there is once again an official permanent ambassador from Poland in the State of Israel,” Herzog was cited as saying by Hebrew-language outlet Maariv.
“Poland is a great friend of Israel and holds special significance for many of us here in Israel—both in the difficult times we have known and in better times. I hope that during your term, we will deepen and expand the cooperation between our countries,” he added.
According to Maariv, Hunia replied, “It is a great honor to serve my country in Israel. Our two nations share a common history, as you mentioned—there are dark chapters, but also bright ones in the relations between our peoples. We know what happened in Poland during World War II, but we are also aware that the Jewish people contributed greatly to Polish culture, and likewise, Poland has contributed to Israeli society.”
Speaking about the Hamas-led attack on Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023, the Polish diplomat said that “I saw with my own eyes the destruction and devastation that Hamas brought upon the area and its residents. We stand with you and demand the immediate release of the hostages—this is a crucial condition for future stability.”
Hunia visited ravaged Kibbutz Nir Oz twice since the Hamas massacre in the Jewish communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip, Maariv reported.
‘We are on the same page’
Ties between Jerusalem and Warsaw had nosedived after Poland’s government enacted laws that were seen by Israel as whitewashing Poland’s role in the Holocaust, and then banned claims for restitution of seized property by Holocaust victims and their relatives.
The overarching dispute over the Holocaust-related issues over the last several years only served to heighten a years-old difference between the two countries over the content of Israeli youth educational trips to Poland, and who would handle security for the youth groups.
Until the dispute broke out, tens of thousands of Israeli teens routinely traveled to Poland on such educational trips each year, touring former Nazi camps to learn about the Holocaust and memorialize those who were murdered. The trip has long been considered a rite of passage in Israeli education and the best way to study the Holocaust.
The educational trips have since been resumed.
Hunia, Poland’s former intelligence chief, spoke with JNS in 2024 to discuss his efforts to put relations with Israel “back on track.”
He said it was “quite important” both for historical and security reasons that Polish-Israeli relations should be strong, turning a page in bilateral ties that subsequently became overshadowed by the Russian-Ukrainian war on Poland’s doorstep, and then by the war in the Middle East.
“On the majority of things, we are on the same page,” the ambassador said, deploring the terrorism of Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the attacks on Israel by Iran and its other proxies.
At the same time, he stopped short of offering unequivocal support for Israel amid its 13-month-old war, citing concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, in line with the position of the European Union.
“We are sympathetic to Israel and we are sympathetic to innocent peoples, too,” Hunia said when asked how Poland will align itself in international bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations as the E.U. president. “We hope this line will cross so we can fully support Israel.”
He conceded that it was “absolutely natural” that war-weary Israelis are not in the mood to think about political plans regarding Palestinians, but added that it was the role of politicians to think ahead.
