Two weeks ago, there was a flicker of renewed hope for a thaw in the long-troubled relationship between Poland and the Jewish state.
On July 21, President Isaac Herzog received the diplomatic credentials of the new Polish ambassador to Israel, the first in the country since 2021.
After years of frosty relations, exacerbated by disputes over Holocaust memory and property restitution controversies, Warsaw’s decision to finally send an envoy to Tel Aviv was a long overdue step toward reconciliation.
But any hope for an improvement in bilateral relations, it seems, was premature.
In the span of just a few days, Polish officials took a sledgehammer to any goodwill their new ambassador might have been able to build. And they have done so with a toxic mix of moral arrogance, historical amnesia, and political opportunism.
First came the disturbing remarks on July 31 by Polish government spokesman Minister without Portfolio Jan Grabiec, who arrogantly declared that Poland “can be an example” for countries considering recognition of “Palestine” because Warsaw has done so since 1988. He added insult to injury by claiming that Poland’s experience with a supposed “two-state solution” made it a model for others to follow.
This self-congratulatory nonsense, which implies that Poland’s tortured 20th-century history somehow qualifies it to lecture Israel on security, is as laughable as it is offensive.
Let’s be clear: Israel is fighting for its survival against genocidal terrorists who butchered 1,200 of its citizens on Oct. 7 in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. For Poland, of all countries, to position itself as a moral beacon on this issue while Hamas holds Israelis hostage is the height of hypocrisy.
But the insults did not end there.
On August 1, Polish police barred an IDF delegation visiting Auschwitz from carrying Israeli flags, even though this has been done for years. Israeli officers attempted to reason with the police, but they would not budge. The delegation was forced to enter without raising the flag, thereby turning a solemn memorial ceremony into a display of thinly-veiled Polish antisemitism.
Then, two days later, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski – a veteran Eurocrat with a long record of condescension toward Israel – lashed out with the inflammatory claim that “no one has the right to make children starve,” directly targeting Israel’s Gaza policy. He offered no such rebuke to Hamas, which hoards humanitarian supplies, hides rockets in schools, and intentionally puts civilians in harm’s way. Sikorski’s outrage, like much of Europe’s, is woefully selective.
But the most galling moment of all came when Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tweeted an image on August 3 of malnourished children in Gaza, accompanied by the stark and accusatory caption: “No child deserves to starve.”
It was a naked attempt to blame Israel for the suffering in Gaza while ignoring the fact that it is Hamas – not Israel – that has created this human catastrophe. Tusk, a seasoned politician who once headed the European Council, knows exactly what he’s doing. His message was not about compassion; it was a cynical swipe at the Jewish state wrapped in the language of humanitarianism.
Israel, to its credit, responded forcefully. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish ambassador for a formal reprimand and called the prime minister’s post on X (formerly Twitter) “unacceptable.” In diplomatic terms, that’s the equivalent of a slap across the face – and it was fully warranted.
And Tom Rose, the former publisher of The Jerusalem Post who has been nominated to serve as US ambassador to Poland, also weighed in, reminding Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski that, “Israel has provided more humanitarian aid to its mortal enemy than any combatant in the history of warfare.” Rose’s principled defense offered a counterpoint to the Polish stance: real diplomacy must be anchored in truth.
So what are we to make of this? Why would Poland extend an olive branch with one hand and a poison dagger with the other?
The truth behind Poland's hypocrisy
Part of the answer lies in the increasingly hostile tone that has come to define much of Europe’s approach to Israel. From Dublin to Oslo to Madrid, virtue-signalling about Gaza has become the currency of choice for leftist leaders seeking applause from activist elites and Arab voters. Tusk and Sikorski are playing to that same cynical gallery. In their eyes, castigating Israel wins points in Brussels and among portions of their electorate.
But Poland’s hypocrisy runs deeper. This is the same country that, in recent years, passed laws restricting discussion of Polish complicity in the Holocaust. The same country that also limited restitution to Jewish Holocaust survivors and their families for properties seized during the Nazi occupation, and never returned. The same country where antisemitic tropes still echo in political discourse. And now they dare lecture Israel on morality?
If Poland truly wants to be taken seriously as a friend of the Jewish people and of the Jewish state, it must do more than send an ambassador and issue empty platitudes. It must confront its own numerous historical failures with honesty. It must stop aligning itself with those who seek to delegitimize and isolate Israel. And it must cease exploiting the suffering in Gaza as a political cudgel against a nation fighting to protect its citizens.
The return of a Polish ambassador to Israel could have marked a turning point – a chance to repair years of mistrust and miscommunication.
Instead, the Polish government has chosen to sabotage its own diplomacy with slander and double standards.
In Jewish tradition, words matter. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” King Solomon taught us in Proverbs 18:21. The recent words from Warsaw have not brought life but only division and insult.
Israel has enough enemies. It should not have to defend itself from supposed allies. Poland must now decide: does it want to build bridges with the Jewish state or burn them down?
Right now, it seems they have already lit the match.
The writer served as deputy communications director under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.