Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced on Saturday that he had instructed ambassador-designate to Poland Yacov Livne to leave for Warsaw ahead of schedule.
“I made the decision … in order to enhance assistance to Israeli citizens crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland and in view of the importance of the events and the central role that Poland plays in them,” Lapid wrote on Twitter.
“Dr. Livne is expected to leave for Warsaw [on Sunday] morning and submit his credentials in the near future,” Lapid continued. “Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz and I thank … Ya’alon for her work and leadership.”
Earlier on Saturday, Lapid revealed that he had “instructed the Israeli embassy staff located in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine to move its operations to the Polish side of the border.”
The move follows a rise in diplomatic tensions between Jerusalem and Warsaw, most recently over a Polish restitution law that limited property claims from Holocaust survivors.