Donald Tusk: Poland’s Anti-Israel Lurch to the Left
Last December, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski gave an interview in the daily Rzeczpospolita confirming that Poland would adhere to international treaties, which includes arresting anyone with an international warrant outstanding, an honor given to Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu earlier in the year by the International Criminal Court. The warrant for Netanyahu itself was shocking given Israeli military action in Gaza was clearly a legitimate defensive action taken after an armed terrorist attack on its citizens.
But despite rumors that Netanyahu might visit the Auschwitz concentration camp on the 80th anniversary of its liberation, Poland’s left-liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his government took the foreign minister’s announcement for granted, signaling its approval. In fact, Tusk and his cabinet roundly criticized Mongolia at around this time because it failed to arrest Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the same warrant that applies to Netanyahu.
The Tusk government’s position was too much for the U.S. and other pro-Israel entities and media, which loudly protested the arrest policy. The moderately conservative Polish president Andrzej Duda even wrote an open letter to Tusk demanding that the government desist from its anti-Israeli course. Eventually, the Tusk government relented.
But what happens when the government in Warsaw is no longer pro-American? What if it goes woke?
But the threat to arrest Netanyahu was simply unprecedented, out of character, and shocking on many levels in the Israeli-Polish relationship since 1989. To understand what is happening now it is important to review some history.
History of Israeli-Polish Relations
On Stalin’s orders, Poland was one of the first the recognize Israel in 1948. Likewise, on Moscow’s command, Warsaw broke off relations with Tel Aviv after the Six-Day War in 1967. When Israel defeated five Arab armies in that war, many in Poland rejoiced, as it was seen as a defeat for the Soviet Union’s allies. From this point on there was a disconnect between popular Polish sentiment and the anti-Zionism of the Communist party.
There were rallies against Israel in Poland, but they were typically arranged by the party bosses. The “anti-Zionist” rallies were organized in factories and enterprises from above; there was little spontaneous about it.
So in 1989, after Poland regained its sovereignty and Communism crumbled, the Poles scrambled to reestablish ties with Israel. Accordingly, Polish-Israeli relations went from Cold War to virtually romantic, at least on the Polish side. Successive Solidarity-backed governments embraced Israel and provided reliable support on a number of levels.
At home, Poland not only was the first to facilitate, and finance, mass emigration of Soviet Jews (via Warsaw) in the so-called Operation Bridge in 1989 but also moved steadily to recognize past wrongs to bring about Polish-Jewish reconciliation.
Among other things, the parliament restored religious properties confiscated by Hitler and Stalin, including Jewish ones. A robust domestic debate led to addressing painful issues in mutual history, including real and alleged collaboration with Nazis and Communists. School curricula were adjusted accordingly, leading to the restoration of the Jewish past, excised by the Communists.
Abroad, Poland prominently and consistently occupied the “Israel Amen corner” on the international stage, including at the UN, automatically taking Israel’s side on most issues. It stemmed from genuine sympathy for the Zionist project; from an honest effort to reconcile; and, partly, from the realization that the pro-Israeli stance was a conditio sine qua non of Poland’s alliance and special relationship with the U.S.
America is NATO; the European Union is not. The U.S. defends Poland and the rest of the continent. Thus, the entire question of Poland’s national security rides on Warsaw’s alliance with Washington, including Poland’s commitment to Israel.
This was precisely the default foreign policy of the conservative-populist government of Law and Justice (PiS) for over a decade until October 2023. The rule was to support Israel even without reciprocity because that is what the alliance with America entailed.
No wonder that for years virtually everyone took it for granted that the Polish pro-American government would always back Israel. But what happens when the government in Warsaw is no longer pro-American? What if it goes woke?
Poland Goes Woke
This is precisely what happened over a year ago when a left-liberal alliance led by the Civic Coalition (KO) won the October 2023 elections. Poland has been moving markedly to the left.
The new government has worked to completely reverse the policies of its conservative predecessor. Hence, political correctness rules: abortion on demand; sexualization of children through a special “health” curriculum; a European version of a “green new deal;” LGBT trumping traditional family arrangements; and of course, abandonment of Israel.
This is a dramatic shift in Polish foreign policy. The Civic Coalition has pivoted away from Donald Trump’s D.C. to Brussels and Berlin. Downplaying NATO, the KO claims that the feeble EU would effectively defend Poland and advocates for a European army. Hence, it has dutifully embraced all European preferences, including the hate-Israel agenda.
Anyone who supports Netanyahu, and who argues for a pro-American Intermarium (“Three Seas”) bloc of nations between the Black, Adriatic, and Baltic seas, undermines the Brussels option. Since the KO government is not courageous enough to repudiate the American alliance openly, it claims disingenuously that those who refuse to embrace Poland’s new policy must be stooges of Vladimir Putin, a smear that is supposed to deflect the world’s attention from its anti-Israeli and, ultimately, anti-American policies.
If Poland is to remain sovereign and secure, its government should abandon its EU fantasy, realize that Poland’s enemies are the same ones as America’s and Israel’s, and restore harmonious relations with its natural allies.
Premier Tusk’s ultimately relenting to the pressure from the United States, President Duda, and pro-Israel stakeholders took too long. But it is a first step in the right direction.
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Marek Jan Chodakiewicz is a Professor of History at The Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of national security, intelligence, and international affairs, in Washington, DC, where he holds the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies, and heads the Center for Intermarium Studies.
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