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Friday March 9, 2007

The not-so-odd couple: Polish, Israeli ambassadors tour U.S.

by joe eskenazi
staff writer

Thousands of American and Israeli Jews visit Poland every year — frequently to view the vast mechanism used to exterminate their relatives.

But there’s more to Poland than Stalinist architecture and memories of that dark chapter in the nation’s history. Paired in San Francisco for a series of engagements, David Peleg, Israel’s ambassador to Poland, and Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, Poland’s envoy to Israel, made like Rick and Captain Renault at the end of “Casablanca,” heralding the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

Peleg didn’t use the term “beautiful,” but he did term the developing alliance as “strategic and historic.”

“It’s about political, military and economic [partnerships],” he said. “There is a lot of Israeli investment in Poland. Next year will be the year of Polish culture in Israel, and the Israeli culture year in Poland.”

It will also be Israel’s 60th anniversary in 2008, he noted. “We are dealing with two countries and two peoples with a common history of Jews in Poland,” he said. “The great tragedy of the Holocaust left its marks on the relationships between the two governments and peoples, and I think we are making good progress.”

The two nations have in fact grown to be tight allies, a new reality the two ambassadors trumpeted in their San Francisco visit Sunday, March 4 and Monday, March 5 prior to heading to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., on a trip organized by the American Jewish Committee.

Poland — arguably the United States’ most loyal ally in Europe — is a political ally of Israel in the European Union and a supporter of Israeli security in the Middle East. In return, Israeli military and high-tech firms have made billions helping Poland improve its infrastructure and post-communist military.

“Israel is one of the most advanced countries in high technology, new technology and nanotechnology,” Magdziak-Miszewska said. “We have very good cooperation in the science and military industries.

“Since 1995, after 50 years of being allies of the Soviets, we need to modernize our army as NATO members,” she said.

During their short stay in the Bay Area, the ambassadors attended a number of private events, including Monday, March 5 receptions with Israeli Consul General David Akov and philanthropist Tad Taube of the Taube Foundation.

The Polish-born Taube told j. he expects that the relationship between his home country and Israel will only grow, and has spoken with the Bronfman Foundation about helping to finance a “Polish Birthright” program that will send Polish youths to the Jewish state with the possibility of attending courses at Israel’s Leo Baeck School, which is funded by Bay Area philanthropist Lorry Lokey.

While the diplomatic, military and economic relationships are compelling, the hope is to spur a close relationship between the two nations through face-to-face contact between citizens.

Magdziak-Miszewska would like to “maintain more contact and closer relations between our young generations.

“This is very important because we have Israeli students who travel to Poland, even though they mostly travel to the death camps,” she said. “And we have Polish students who travel to Israel, but they are traveling to see the Holy Land, not Israel.

“Our goal is to make some changes in these programs and make personal meetings between young Israelis and Poles possible.”

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