In honor of the 70th anniversary of Israel’s first diplomatic mission, Israel’s ambassador to Poland re-enacted the moment when the flag of Israel flew for the first time in Warsaw.
Israeli Ambassador to Poland Anna Azari alit the balcony of the historic Bristol Hotel in central Warsaw and affixed the Israeli flag. A small crowd on the street below applauded, cheered and sang Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva”—just as they did in 1948.
The Israeli Embassy in Poland was located at the Bristol because it was one of the few buildings in Warsaw that had not been destroyed by Germany during World War II.
The ceremony included a brief video of the 1948 ceremony establishing the mission.
The event was part of an effort on the part of both countries to repair relations following the passage of a Polish law punishing references to “Polish concentration camps” or any Polish participation in the killing or discrimination against the Jews during the Holocaust.
