nation / world
Israel Says ‘Crisis’ With
Poland Over, Countries Agree
to Resume Student Trips to
Holocaust Sites
After a warm meeting with his Polish
counterpart on March 22, Israel’s
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen declared
From left: Israeli Foreign Minister Eli
Cohen meets with Polish Foreign
that the years-long “crisis” in relations
Minister Zbigniew Rau in Warsaw
between the two countries was over,
on March 22.

JTA.org reported.

Meeting in Warsaw, Cohen and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed
an agreement stating that Israeli youth trips to Holocaust sites in Poland would
resume — rebooting a longstanding program that was called off last year as part
of a series of ongoing diplomatic spats. The Times of Israel reported that Israel’s
parliament, the Knesset, will have to approve the agreement for it to go into eff ect.

Poland also agreed to return its ambassador to Israel shortly. The Polish envoy
was recalled in 2021.

In 2018, Poland’s right-wing government caused a rift between the two countries
by passing a law that made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation of having commit-
ted crimes during the Holocaust, a move that critics called a whitewashing of
history. Then, in 2021, Poland passed another law that eff ectively closed off resti-
tution claims by descendants of families that had lost property during the war.

Israeli politicians, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, harshly
condemned both moves, and for a time Israel recalled its ambassador to Warsaw.

Poland’s prime minister canceled a trip to Israel in 2019.

Israel Ranked Fourth-happiest Country in World
Israel is the fourth-happiest country in the world, up from ninth a year ago,
according to a report produced by the U.N.-affi liated Sustainable Development
Solutions Network, JNS.org reported.

Based on Gallup World Poll data, the study leverages six key factors to help
explain variation in self-reported levels of happiness across the world: social
support, income, health, freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

The report named Finland the happiest country in the world for the sixth
consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands. The
United States ranked 15th. Afghanistan and Lebanon were the two unhappiest
countries in the survey.

The report was released on March 20 to mark the International Day of
Happiness, which was established when the U.N. General Assembly adopted
Resolution 66/281 in June 2012.

Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images via JTA.org
Florida Bill Banning ‘Ethnic Intimidation’ Flyers Aims to Stop
State’s Neo-Nazi Rise
Responding to a recent rise in neo-Nazi activity in his state, a Jewish lawmaker
in Florida is trying to outlaw displays of “religious or ethnic animus” on private
property in his state, JTA.org reported.

H.B. 269 takes aim at a variety of activities that neo-Nazi groups in the state
have undertaken, from distributing fl yers with hate speech to broadcasting intim-
idating messages in public places.

Those groups’ activity has been rising in Florida for several years, according to
a 2022 report by the Anti-Defamation League titled “Hate in the Sunshine State.”
The report was published before the founder of the Goyim Defense League,
which distributes antisemitic literature in public places and to private homes,
relocated to Florida.

“We have actual Nazis who have proudly taken up residence in Florida,” the
bill’s co-author, Rep. Randy Fine, told the Algemeiner. “The things that they are
doing, all of which I fi nd disgusting, are reprehensible, and we are going to make
them felonies.” ■
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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