Poland pulls out of Israel visit amid Holocaust row

POLAND - Poland has pulled out of a planned trip to Jerusalem the same day officials were due to arrive, after Israel’s foreign minister accused Poles of hatred against Jews and complicity in the Holocaust. Israel Katz, who was appointed acting foreign minister on Sunday, said Poles “suckle antisemitism with their mother’s milk”. Speaking on another radio show on Monday morning, he accused all Polish people of harboring ‘innate’ antisemitism. The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said the remarks were “unacceptable” and ‘racist’. Katz’s comments deepened a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, which began on Thursday when the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “Poles cooperated with the Nazis.” His office later said he was misquoted by domestic media as saying “the Poles”, suggesting blame of the entire nation rather than individuals. Yet, the ensuing standoff has overshadowed a summit Netanyahu was due to host on Monday for the V4 group – Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. It also threatens to derail his efforts to draw alliances with central European nations despite national concerns over deepening xenophobic politics in that region. Poland’s foreign ministry has summoned the Israeli ambassador twice in three days, and the head of the Polish prime minister’s office, Michał Dworczyk, said the Israeli foreign minister’s comments were ‘disgraceful’. Katz told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday he wanted to maintain good relations with Poland, but went on to criticize all Poles. He said: “Historical truth cannot be changed. Many Poles collaborated with the Nazis and took part in the destruction of the Jews during the Holocaust. Antisemitism was innate among the Poles before the Holocaust, during it and after it too.” Before the second world war, Poland was home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities, which was almost wiped out by the Nazis. (The Guardian)