Polish Sejm launches pro- Israel caucus

By Anav Silverman

JERUSALEM (Tazpit) — This past week, the Polish Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus was launched at the Polish parliament, known as the Sejm, in Warsaw. An Israeli delegation from the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) were in Warsaw on Monday, June 1 to launch the new caucus.

“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 former member of Knesset, Shai Hermesh, who is the current chairman of the Israeli branch of the World Jewish Congress during the launch.

World Jewish Congress representatives and Knesset Christian Allies Caucus representatives met with senior Christian parliamentarians in the Sejm to work on building further support for the State of Israel through their shared Judeo-Christian values.

The Israeli delegation met with high-ranking Polish lawmakers including Jan Dziedziczak, one of the initiators of the newly established Polish Israel Allies Caucus. In addition, Polish parliamentarians from both the opposition and coalition parties joined Dziedziczak to further advance the relationship between Poland and Israel.

Welcoming the Israeli delegation was Polish MP Michał Szczerba, who also chairs the Polish-Israeli parliamentary group and is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Szczerba stressed the importance of the caucus initiative in strengthening Polish-Israeli relations.

The former Polish ambassador to Iran and former deputy director of Poland’s National Security Bureau, Witold Waszczykowski, was also present to express his enthusiastic support of the establishment of the caucus.

“This is an important day for faith-based diplomacy,” said Josh Reinstein, Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. “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,” he said.

Established in 2004, the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus consists of 17 members of the Israeli 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.

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Silverman is a staff writer for the Tazpit News Agency in Israel.

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