Poland says it may withdraw from summit as Israel argument escalates

Poland warned on Monday that it may pull out of a summit of central European countries in Jerusalem this week on the heels of comments by Israel’s new foreign minister accusing Poles of antiSemitism.

The move comes after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki backed out of Sunday’s V4 summit following uproar in Poland over reported comments by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu about the Poles and the Holocaust.

V4 refers to the Visegrad Group of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz was due to replace Morawiecki, but a senior government official in Warsaw said on Monday this was now under a “question mark” following comments by Israel’s diplomatic chief Israel Katz.

He told Israel’s i24 television that “there were many Poles who collaborated with the Nazis, and like Yitzhak Shamir, whose father was murdered, said: Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk.”

“The situation has changed since yesterday,” Michal Dworczyk, head of the Polish prime minister’s chancellery, told Polish radio on Monday, adding that “we’re dealing with a disgraceful statement by Israel’s new foreign minister.”

“A huge question mark hangs over any participation by a representative of the Polish state in the V4 summit in Israel,” Dworczyk said.

The initial row broke out last week when Netanyahu – who was quoted in Haaretz newspaper as saying that “the Poles collaborated with the Nazis” – was condemned in Poland for appearing to accuse all Polish people of cooperating with Germany during World War II.

Warsaw has long been at pains to point out that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany, could not have and did not collaborate in the Holocaust although individual Poles gave up Jews to the Nazis.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said that Netanyahu was “misquoted” in Haaretz and other publications that reported different versions of the quote.