After bitter diplomatic spat, Israeli ambassador submits credentials to Polish president

Israel’s ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne submits his diplomatic credentials to Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Duda told Herzog last week that Poland will send its ambassador-designate to present his letter of credence in the coming days, as the two countries move beyond a bitter, year-long diplomatic spat.

The two erstwhile allies have been locking horns since last year. In July 2021, Poland’s legislature passed a law effectively cutting off any future restitution to the heirs of property seized by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In response to the legislation, signed into law by Duda, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called it “antisemitic and immoral.”

Livne took up his post in Warsaw in February to coordinate Israeli efforts to extract citizens from Ukraine and to provide aid to Kyiv. Two Polish lawmakers visited the Knesset in June, the first to do so since 2017.

Thank you President @AndrzejDuda for receiving Ambassador @YacovLivne's credentials: an important first step to advancing Israeli-Polish relations. I hope to receive the letters of credence of the new Polish ambassador in Israel soon.???????????????? https://t.co/d7ZI9q7PWv

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 12, 2022