Israeli ambassador: ‘I hope the Polish embassy soon relocates to Jerusalem’

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer expressed a wish on Monday that Poland move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem soon.

Despite the tensions between the two countries, exemplified by Poland’s Holocaust speech law (even though its criminal penalties were scrapped), Dermer made this remark at a joint occasion hosted by the Israeli and Polish embassies in Washington, remembering 100 years since Polish independence and 70 years of Israeli statehood.

Nonetheless, the Israeli envoy said, “The relationship between our two countries is so strong that I remain hopeful that next year, the Polish ambassador to Israel will follow in the footsteps of the American ambassador to Israel and light a menorah in a Polish embassy in Jerusalem.”

“I’m pleased that our two governments were able to reach an agreement that enables us both to respect the past and work together to build a common future,” added Dermer.

Regarding a possible move of the Polish embassy to Jerusalem, Polish Ambassador to the United States Piotr Wilczek told Haaretz that “our Israeli friends often express such hopes, but I’m not aware of any plans regarding this at the moment.”

In his remarks at the event, Wilczek did not reference the Holocaust even once, although expressed satisfaction that, at the urging of Israel and the United States, Poland watered down the Holocaust bill that “that enables [Poland and Israel] both to respect the past and work together to build a common future.”