Holocaust comments by Benjamin Netanyahu prompt Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to cancel trip to Jerusalem
- Country’s leader had been due to visit the city on Monday
Poland’s prime minister cancelled a visit to Jerusalem after comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the role of Polish people in the Holocaust.
Mateusz Morawiecki had been due to visit the city on Monday to participate in the first meeting of the Visegrad Group of eastern European nations to be held outside the continent.
Poland had however been seeking clarification of comments reportedly made by Netanyahu that “the Polish nation” cooperated with Nazi occupiers during the second world war, Polsat News reported, citing an aide to the Morawiecki. Israel said Netanyahu had been talking about “individuals, and not the whole nation,” Polsat reported. Morawiecki nevertheless informed Netanyahu Sunday of his decision to skip the visit.
Morawiecki “remains very sensitive to false accusations against the Polish nation when it comes to the second world war,” aide Michal Dworczyk said in an interview with Polsat. “Hence he decided to cancel the trip.”
Netanyahu commented on Poland’s wartime role at a US-sponsored Middle East conference in Warsaw last week. Poland will now be represented in Jerusalem by Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, a government spokesman said.