Netanyahu's Protest Against Polish Parliament's Legislation: Israel Will Not Tolerate Historical Revisionism

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, criticized a new bill passed by the Polish Parliament on Sunday, February 27, condemning those who accuse Poland of complicity in the Holocaust, stating that Israel "will not tolerate historical revisionism." On the same day, the President of Poland stated that the aim of this bill is to prevent "historical distortion." According to the bill recently presented by the Polish government to Parliament, those who consider Poland involved in the murder of Jews during the Nazi regime could be prosecuted and may face imprisonment. Additionally, the term "Polish death camps," referring to camps where part of the Nazi crimes, especially against Jews, occurred, is set to be changed. Since the bill was passed in the Polish Parliament on February 25, Israel has shown significant sensitivity towards it. However, this legal process still needs to be approved by the Polish Senate and subsequently signed by the President. Netanyahu's remarks on Sunday were the latest response from Israeli leaders regarding this legal process in the Polish Parliament. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu stated that Poland should not "distort history" and added: "Anna Azaria, the Israeli ambassador to Poland, conveyed Israel's opposition to this law during a meeting with Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister of Poland." Netanyahu mentioned that the Israeli ambassador in Poland "will have further meetings in the coming days with the Prime Minister, President, and Senate President of Poland, as the President and Senate President have the ability to prevent the passage of this law." The Israeli Prime Minister said: "We still remember our six million murdered brothers." According to the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, also condemned the new Polish law in a statement, writing that the Germans had the assistance of the Polish people in committing the Holocaust and there is no doubt that the term "Polish death camps" is accurate. Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Polish Jews, also told Israeli media on Sunday that the drafting of this "bad and miserable" new bill in Poland is a result of Holocaust denial. Following this tension, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish ambassador in Tel Aviv, but according to Israeli media, the ambassador is currently not in Israel, and Piotr Kozlowski, the deputy ambassador, went to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Sunday. On the other hand, according to news agencies, Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, stated on Sunday that this bill is "designed to prevent historical distortion." He added that once the legal process is complete, "I will announce my considerations." Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister of Poland, referred to Auschwitz on Twitter as a place where "evil ideology" was executed. He wrote that at Auschwitz, "Jews, Poles, and other victims were killed by the German Nazis." However, he added: "Auschwitz-Birkenau is not a Polish name; 'Arbeit macht frei' is not a Polish phrase." The German phrase "Arbeit macht frei" means "work sets you free" and was inscribed above the entrance to Auschwitz and the forced labor camps established by the Nazis, including in Poland. Patrick Jaki, the Deputy Minister of Justice of Poland, who drafted the bill, wrote on Twitter on Saturday night that this law is "not anti-Israel." The tension between Israel and Poland comes as February 26 marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established by the United Nations in the past decade. During this year's ceremonies, coinciding with the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Polish officials, including the Prime Minister, attended Auschwitz to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, invaded Poland in September 1939, leading to the start of World War II; during the war, the Nazis systematically murdered Jews under the title "Final Solution," killing a portion of the six million Jews, including in areas of Poland that were under Nazi occupation. Approximately three million Polish Jews, who made up nearly 85 percent of the Jews in Poland before World War II, were killed during the war by the Nazis and their allies.