Maciej Hunia, a 63-year-old former Polish military intelligence chief and former espionage services head, will be appointed as the country's new ambassador to Israel. Hunia's appointment follows three years during which Poland had no ambassador to Israel, after recalling Ambassador Marek Magierowski in 2021. Relations between Poland and Israel soured during August 2021, when Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law a bill limiting restitution for Holocaust-related claims. In response, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid instructed Tal Ben Ari, chargé d'affaires of the Israeli embassy in Poland, to return to Israel. In November 2021 , Poland’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it would have no ambassador in Israel for the time being, bringing the mission level down to that of Israel’s mission in Poland. Related articles: Student delegation that was stuck in Turkey lands in Poland Drama on school flight to Poland Israeli student arrested for Nazi salute at Auschwitz Polish archaeology students discover history at Jewish cemetery Later, as relations improved, Israel sent an ambassador to Warsaw, and Poland is now returning the gesture by appointing a new ambassador to Israel. When asked Thursday by the Polish Parliament whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Hunia said, "I am far from seeing this as genocide. Military operations cause unintended harm to civilians. We saw that in Iraq and Afghanistan." Israeli Ambassador to Poland Amb. Yacov Livne congratulated Hunia, writing, "My warmest congratulations to General (Ret.) Maciej Hunia on his successful Parliamentary hearing towards becoming the new Polish Ambassador in Israel. I wish him a lot of success in achieving our common goal of strengthening the Polish-Israeli relations."
