Netanyahu slams ‘death camp’ ban

TEL AVIV, Israel –– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday voiced his opposition to a draft Polish law that would criminalize statements suggesting that Poland bears responsibility for the Holocaust.

The law, which requires approval from the Polish Senate and the country’s head of state, would make use of the phrase “Polish death camps” punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine.

“The law is baseless

— I strongly oppose it,” Netanyahu said. “One cannot change history and the Holocaust cannot be denied.”

Netanyahu said he has instructed the Israeli ambassador to Poland to meet with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki so he could “express to him my strong position against the law.”

Officials in Warsaw argue that the phrase in question indicates that Poles have some responsibility for the crimes — mainly against Jews — committed by the Nazis on Polish soil after the country’s occupation in 1939.