1. Comparison

2. History
    After World War 2  After Communism fell in Poland  21st century 

3. State visits

4. Bilateral relations

5. Transportation

6. Trade

7. Resident diplomatic missions

8. See also

9. References

Israel–Poland relations comprise diplomatic relations between Israel and Poland. At least 220,000 Israeli citizens are of Polish-Jewish origin.^[1] Both countries are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the United Nations.

Comparison

History

Beginning in the late 900s CE, Poland became host to what was to become, until the 1940s, the largest Jewish community in Europe. In World War II and the Jewish genocide perpetrated by Germany, much of Poland's Jewish community was destroyed, and many surviving Polish Jews emigrated to other countries, including some 70,000 who moved to Israel.^[2]

After World War 2

On 29 November 1947 Poland voted in favor of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which led to the establishment of the state of Israel. On 19 May 1948 Poland recognized, and established diplomatic relations with, Israel.^[3] In May 1948 Polish-born David Ben-Gurion became the new country's first prime minister. In September 1948 Israel opened its first diplomatic mission in Warsaw.^[2]

In June 1967, after the Six-Day War, Poland joined the Soviet-controlled Eastern Bloc in severing diplomatic relations with Israel.^[3] In 1986 Poland initiated contacts with Israel. The two countries soon opened interest offices in each other's capitals, and in 1988 an Israel-Poland Chamber of Commerce was established.^[4]

After Communism fell in Poland

In 1989 Poland's communist government fell, and in November 1989 Polish-born Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited Poland, paving the way for resumed diplomatic relations. During his visit, Peres met with Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski and Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki.^[5] Full diplomatic relations were restored on 27 February 1990, leading to expanded political, military, economic, and cultural cooperation between the two countries.^[3] In May 1991 Polish President Lech Wałęsa paid a visit to Israel.^[6]

21st century

In 2010 an Israeli Mossad agent carrying a forged German passport was arrested at Warsaw Chopin Airport. He was wanted in connection with the assassination, in Dubai in January 2010, of a senior Hamas official, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, The Mossad agent was deported to Germany for trial.^[7]

In February 2015 Poland and Israel celebrated 25 years of re-established diplomatic relations between them.^[8]

In early 2018 both chambers of the Polish parliament (the Sejm and Senate) adopted an Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, criminalizing the ascription to Poles collectively of complicity in World War II Jewish-Holocaust-related or other war crimes committed by the Axis powers, and condemning use of the expression, "Polish death camp".^[9][10][11] The law sparked a crisis in Polish-Israeli relations.^[12] At the Munich Security Conference on 17 February that year, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said "it is not going to be seen as criminal to say that there were Polish perpetrators, as there were Jewish perpetrators, as there were Russian perpetrators, as there were Ukrainian perpetrators, not only German perpetrators."^[13][14] His remark prompted much controversy, and condemnation by prominent Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.^[15][16][17] The crisis was resolved in late June that year when the Polish and Israeli prime ministers issued a joint communiqué endorsing research into the Jewish Holocaust and condemning the expression, "Polish concentration camps".^[18]

Relations again deteriorated in February 2019 when during a visit to Poland, Netanyahu said, "Poles collaborated with the Nazis". Misquotes of this in the media as "the Poles collaborated with the Nazis" led Morawiecki to consider cancelling his planned visit to Israel the following month for a Visegrad Group summit.^[19] When Netanyahu clarified that this was a misquote, Poland blamed "media manipulation" and ended the feud.^[20] However, the dispute reignited 3 days later, when Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz claimed that "the Poles imbibe antisemitism from their mothers’ milk" and subsequently refused to apologise, resulting in Poland pulling out of the Visegrad Group summit altogether, leading to its cancellation.^[21] The two countries' mutual ally, the United States, backed Poland in the dispute, with U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher stating, "there is no room for such offensive comments",^[22] and requesting that Israel apologise to Poland.^[23] New Right leader and cabinet minister Naftali Bennett accused Poland to revise history. He informed that his wife’s family lived four years in a forest in Poland and were finally murdered by Poles.^[24]

State visits

Presidential and Prime Ministerial visits from Israel to Poland^[

//#25'>25]^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]}

• President Chaim Herzog (1992)
• Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1993)
• Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (2005)
• President Moshe Katsav (2005)
• President Shimon Peres (2008)
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2013)
• President Reuven Rivlin (2014, 2018)

Presidential and Prime Ministerial visits from Poland to Israel^[

//#2'>2]^{[32][33][34][35][36]}

• President Lech Wałęsa (1991)
• Prime Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (1997)
• President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1999, 2000, 2005)
• President Lech Kaczyński (2006)
• Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński (2006)
• Prime Minister Donald Tusk (2008, 2011)
• President Bronisław Komorowski (2013)
• Prime Minister Beata Szydło (2016)
• President Andrzej Duda (2016, 2017)

Bilateral relations

Over the years, both Israel and Poland have signed numerous bilateral agreements such as an Agreement on Cooperation in Culture, Science and Education (1991); Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income (1991); Agreement on Cooperation in Culture, Science and Education (1991); Air Transport Agreement (1991); Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (1992); Agreement in the field of Economy, Science and Technology regarding Cooperation Applied to Agriculture and Food Industry (1993); Agreement on Technical Cooperation in Dairy Development (1997); Agreement on Cooperation in Tourism (1999); Agreement on the Abolition of Visa Requirement for holders of Ordinary and National Passports (2000); and an Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters (2001).^[37]

Transportation

There are regular flights between Israel and Poland with the following airlines: Arkia, El Al, Enter Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Ryanair, Travel Service and Wizz Air.

Trade

In 1995, Israel signed an Association Agreement with the European Union which includes free trade and came into affect in 2000.^[38] In 2004, Poland joined the European Union and trades freely with Israel. In 2016, trade between Israel and the European Union totaled €34.3 billion Euros^[43] of which trade between Israel and Poland totaled $682 million USD.^[39] Israel's main exports to Poland include: gas turbines, packaged medicaments, calcium phosphate, fruits and vegetables and medical instruments. Poland's main exports to Israel include: food based products, textiles processing machines, vehicle chassis, cars, buses, dairy and wheat.^[39]

Resident diplomatic missions

• Israel has an embassy in Warsaw.^[40]
• Poland has an embassy in Tel Aviv.^[41]

See also

• History of the Jews in Poland
• Jewish Roots in Poland
• Lauder – Morasha School
• List of Polish Jews
• "Polish death camp" controversy

References

• South Carolina Highway 13 (1920s)
• South Carolina Highway 13 (1940s)
• South Carolina Highway 135
• South Carolina Highway 137
• South Carolina Highway 13 (disambiguation)
• South Carolina Highway 15
• South Carolina Highway 150
• South Carolina Highway 154
• South Carolina Highway 157
• South Carolina Highway 157 Truck
• South Carolina Highway 162
• South Carolina Highway 163 (pre-1937)
• South Carolina Highway 164
• South Carolina Highway 17
• South Carolina Highway 172
• South Carolina Highway 18
• South Carolina Highway 181
• South Carolina Highway 182
• South Carolina Highway 184
• South Carolina Highway 185
• South Carolina Highway 186
• South Carolina Highway 187
• South Carolina Highway 188
• South Carolina Highway 191
• South Carolina Highway 193