Polish President Andrzej Duda has slammed Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, for the diplomat’s stance over the killing of seven humanitarian workers, including one Pole, in Gaza, calling the ambassador “the biggest current problem in Polish-Israeli relations.”
Commenting on the controversy surrounding the death of the aid workers at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Polish President Andrzej Duda called Livne’s response to the killings “outrageous.”
On Wednesday evening, Livne gave several interviews to the Polish press about the Israeli attack on the convoy carrying volunteers from the World Central Kitchen. He labeled it “a tragic accident and a mistake that can happen in wartime conditions.” He promised that the matter would be investigated, but did not see any prospect of Polish or other nations’ participation in the investigation.
President Duda commented on the ambassador’s statements during his address on Thursday. “I will put it as delicately as possible and say this: The statements are not very fortunate; to put it bluntly, they are outrageous.”
Duda emphasized that he expects the Israeli authorities to “act seriously, that the family will be apologized to, and above all, that they will receive the compensation they undoubtedly deserve in this situation, although nothing will bring back the life of this young man.”
The Polish president put pressure on the Israelis to bring the ambassador to heel. “My assessment is that, today, the ambassador is the biggest problem for the state of Israel in relations with Poland because the Israeli authorities in Israel are maintaining a very restrained approach and not speaking about this tragedy with the appropriate delicacy, in my opinion,” Duda said, alluding to the growing calls for Livne to be sent back to Israel.
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“Unfortunately, their ambassador in Poland cannot maintain such delicacy and sensitivity, which is unacceptable,” he added.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk was also scathing about the behavior of the ambassador. “The ambassador should make a simple, human apology,” Tusk said on Thursday.
He added that Poland will expect compensation for the relatives of the deceased Pole, Damian Soból, and stressed that the Polish volunteer’s killing should not be justified by the war situation, as asserted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Polish prime minister added that “if the ambassador chooses to make public appearances in our media, he should use this opportunity to say sorry,” calling his previous remarks on the issue “unacceptable.”
