In the company of true friends

President Kaczyński was the first head of state to officially visit Israel after the end of the recent conflict with Hezbollah, and he made a good impression with Israel's leaders.

"Poland is Israel's true friend," said the Jewish state's President, Moshe Kacav, thanking Kaczyński for his fight against anti-Semitism. The issue of nationalists in the government and Radio Maryja were touched on during the visit, but they didn't dominate the agenda of the Polish President's meetings with Kacav, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres. The recent conflict in Lebanon was discussed, and Kaczyński promised that, if necessary, Poland would increase its contingent in the UNIFIL peacekeeping force to more than the 500 promised.

Cultural and historical issues played a large part in the President's visit. He visited the Wailing Wall, the Yad Vashem Institute, opened an exhibition devoted to Jews in the Polish armed forces, and on many occasions made reference to the 800-year-long common history of the two nations in Poland. During the visit an agreement was signed that will see Israeli youths coming to Poland to see Polish cities rather than just places of Jewish martyrdom. "We want to show them that Poland is not only the country of their ancestors' graves, but a country of rich culture," said Andrzej Krawczyk, a Minister in the President's Chancellery.

Although it was not an issue during the President's visit, there are substantial trade ties between the two countries. Last year the trade turnover between Poland and Israel was the highest this decade, at $306 (zł.955) million. Poland exported $120 (zł.374) million worth of goods (an increase of 31.1 percent in comparison to 2004), while imports amounted to $186 (zł.580) million (a growth of 21.6 percent). Poland's main exports to Israel are mechanical and electric appliances, food products, and metal products, as well as ships and vessels. Chemicals make up nearly a third of Israel's exports to Poland, followed by mechanical and electric appliances and weapons and ammunition, which in 2005 grew by 794 percent year-on-year.