Israel Police Arrest Man Suspected of Spitting at Polish Ambassador

Poland’s ambassador to Israel was spat at while sitting in his car in Tel Aviv, Israeli police said, and the Polish government condemned the incident, which coincided with rising tensions between the two countries.

An Israeli police spokesman said on Wednesday a 65-year-old man was arrested over Tuesday’s spitting incident.

The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador to Warsaw, Anna Azari, over the matter, a ministry spokeswoman told the state-run news agency PAP.

“The event is under police investigation. We express our fullest sympathy to the ambassador and our shock at the attack,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.

A lawyer for the man suspected of spitting at the ambassador was quoted by Walla News as saying he had been turned away from the Polish Embassy on Tuesday after trying to inquire about restitution.

The suspect’s attorney said the embassy guard had addressed him with an anti-Jewish slur and that the ambassador’s driver had beeped his car horn at him as he walked on the street outside.

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court released the suspect from custody, saying the case was not complex and there was little risk that he would be able to obstruct the investigation.