Polish Foreign Ministry Summons Israeli Ambassador Over Criticism Of Students' Safety

Muhammad Irfan Published October 15, 2022 | 05:00 AM

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2022) Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne has been summoned by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs over his statements regarding the security of Israeli student delegations in Poland.

Poland and Israel are in disagreement over the safety of Israeli student groups visiting Holocaust memorial sites in Poland. Israel insists that its armed guards should accompany the students on the trips, while Warsaw maintains that it is not necessary.

On Thursday, Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne said during a commemoration of an uprising at Nazi extermination camp Sobibor that it was no longer possible for Israeli students to visit such memorials due to the decisions made by the Polish foreign ministry.

"I regret that Ambassador @YacovLivne has chosen to communicate with @MSZ_RP (Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) through the media and public speeches - in addition misleading the public as to why the trips are not taking place," Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said on social media on Friday, commenting on Livne's remarks.

Jablonski added that, "to clarify the situation, he (Livne) will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday."

The Polish deputy foreign minister emphasized that his country was ready to welcome Israeli student groups, but without armed protection.

In the summer of 2021, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a controversial law affecting, among other things, the restitution rights of Jewish people, who suffered during World War II. In August, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced the recall of the ambassador in Warsaw after the law came into force. Afterwards the Polish Foreign Ministry said that it would take symmetrical steps in response to the recall of the Israeli ambassador.

In July of this year, Duda announced that Poland and Israel had initiated the process of normalizing relations between the two countries, and would mutually restore ambassadors.