An Israeli delegation from the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) was in Warsaw to mark the launch of the Polish Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus at the Polish parliament, the Sejm.
KCAC and WJC representatives met with senior Christian parliamentarians in order to garner further support for the State of Israel through their shared Judeo-Christian values.
“As anti-Semitism continues to rise in Europe and around the world, I was moved to witness this historic initiative by members of the Polish parliament to publicly support the Jewish State,” said Shai Hermesh, a former member of the Knesset and current chairman of the World Jewish Congress-Israel.
Josh Reinstein, Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, added: “This is an important day for faith-based diplomacy. Seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we must turn the bulk of our efforts toward mobilizing support for Israel. Israel is the only guarantor of the Jewish people's survival."
In Warsaw, the delegation met with high-ranking Polish lawmakers including Jan Dziedziczak, who is one of the initiators of the newly established Polish Israel Allies Caucus. Sejm members from both the opposition and coalition parties joined Dziedziczak to further the relationship between Poland and the State of Israel. Polish MP Michal Szczerba, who also chairs Polish-Israeli parliamentary group and is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from the governing Civic Platform, welcomed the Israeli delegation and stressed the importance of this initiative in further fostering Polish-Israeli relations.
MP Witold Waszczykowski, a former Polish ambassador to Iran and former deputy director of Poland’s National Security Bureau, expressed his enthusiastic support of the establishment of the caucus.
The Israeli delegation included Andras Patkai, Israel Allies Foundation European director; representatives from the World Jewish Congress, including Shai Hermesh, chairman of WJC-Israel; Sam Grundwerg, director-general of WJC-Israel; Col. (res.) Moshe Leshem; Laurence Weinbaum, director of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, which operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress; Anna Azari, Israel’s ambassador to Poland; and Josh Reinstein, KCAC director.
The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus was established in 2004 and consists of 17 members of Knesset from six political parties. The caucus aims to open formal and direct lines of communication between Knesset members and Christian leaders, organizations and political representatives around the world.
Polish diplomat honored by WJC-Israel
As part of the delegation's viti to Poland, WJC-Israel Chairman Shai Hermesh and WJC-Israel Board member Moshe Leshem presented Poland's former ambassador to Israel, Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, with an award in recognition of her six years of devoted diplomatic service in Israel.
Magdziak-Miszewska is presently deputy director at the Department of Military Foreign Affairs in the Polish Ministry of Defense.
Among her previous postings was that of Polish consul-general in New York (2001-2005). She has been deeply involved in fostering Polish-Jewish relations for many years now and is a member of the International Auschwitz Committee.
