WORLD : Poland, Israel Resume Relations
Poland and Israel resumed full diplomatic ties today after a 23-year break, making this country--once a vibrant center of Jewish life--the third Warsaw Pact nation to resume relations with Israel in the last year.
Relations were sealed with the signing of a protocol by Foreign Ministers Moshe Arens of Israel and Krzysztof Skubiszewski of Poland.
Poland, like the entire Soviet Bloc except Romania, followed Moscow’s lead and broke with Israel in 1967 to support the Arab side in the Middle East War. It joins Hungary and Czechoslovakia in renewing ties with the Jewish state.
Poland has had low-level ties with Israel since 1987, and the Solidarity-led government that came to power in August is hoping that the restoration of a formal embassy will lead to closer economic and cultural cooperation.
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