Poland appoints new ambassador to Israel after more than 3-year vacancy

Poland’s new ambassador to Israel, Maciej Hunia, arrived on the eve of Yom Kippur to assume his post, which had been vacant for more than three years since Poland recalled its ambassador in 2021.

Hunia (63) is a former intelligence and espionage chief and is no stranger to Israel, having visited the Jewish state several times.

During his confirmation hearing in the Polish Parliament, Hunia was asked if he believes Israel is committing “genocide” in the war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

“Military actions causing unintended civilian casualties cannot be characterized as genocide,” Hunia said. “We saw this in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

In a post on 𝕏 on Sunday, Poland’s embassy in Israel announced Hunia's arrival with a video of the new ambassador introducing himself from his hometown of Krakow.

“A warm welcome to our new Head of Mission,” the Polish Embassy wrote. “Mr. Maciej Hunia is joining us in Tel Aviv to strengthen Polish-Israel relations.”

Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne also welcomed Hunia.

“Much success, dear colleague. I'm looking forward to working together. Welcome!” Livne wrote.

Israel and Poland both recalled their ambassadors in 2021, following a diplomatic crisis over Poland’s controversial Holocaust restitution law. The law, which passed with an overwhelming majority, set a 30-year deadline for reclaiming stolen property, effectively ending any chances of recovering Jewish property stolen over 70 years ago during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland and retained by the Polish Communist regime after World War II.

Yair Lapid, Israel's foreign minister at the time, slammed the bill.

“No law will change history. It is a disgrace that will not erase the horrors or the memory of the Holocaust,” Lapid said.

The 2021 Holocaust law followed another law, passed in 2018, which prohibits public discussion related to Poland's responsibility for the Holocaust.

Also in 2021, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński accused Israel of educating Israeli youth to “hate” Poland when he criticized the educational youth trips to the Nazi extermination camps in Poland.

“This propaganda, also based on hatred of Poland, is poured into the heads of young people from an early school age,” Jabłoński claimed. The trips were frozen by Lapid as the result of a disagreement between the two countries when Poland attempted to regulate educational content presented to Israeli delegations. The annual trips were resumed in February 2023.

Both countries recalled their ambassadors in 2021 following the diplomatic crisis, but Israel returned its ambassador to Poland two years ago. Despite repeated promises, Poland only returned its ambassador last week. 

Hunia will be able to fully function as an ambassador to Israel, however, he will not be able to present his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog due to an internal political dispute in Poland, which has led Polish President Andrzej Duda to withhold official letters of credence for over 50 ambassadors, including the one to Israel.