Poland summons Israeli envoy as it fumes over ‘racist’ spit attack on its Tel Aviv diplomat

The Polish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Israeli envoy after Warsaw’s ambassador to Israel was spat on and insulted in Tel Aviv. The attack has aggravated already tense relations between Israel and Poland.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the incident yesterday on Twitter, describing the attack against the ambassador as “racist” and “xenophobic.”

The attack took place in the middle of a public street in Tel Aviv. A 65-year-old man allegedly approached ambassador Marek Magierowski while he was sitting in a car, spat on him, and insulted him. The attacker was arrested the following day, and is currently under house arrest.

While Israeli officials were quick to follow up by expressing shock and sympathy, it seems Polish authorities aren’t satisfied with their words. Poland’s Foreign Ministry now wants to discuss the incident with Israel’s ambassador directly.

Relations between the two countries have been deeply strained over a number of historical issues, in particular over Warsaw’s controversial Holocaust law, passed at the beginning of last year, which prohibits faulting the Polish government for Nazi crimes during WWII.

Just a few days ago, Warsaw cancelled a scheduled visit by an Israeli delegation after it emerged that Israel planned to discuss the return of Jewish property seized during the war.

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