Tensions are continuing to grow between Poland and Israel, with the Poland’s deputy foreign minister claiming Israel’s foreign minister was attempting to fuel a conflict between the two countries and that Israelis are educated at a young age to exhibit anti-Polish attitudes.
Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński spoke about Israel’s recent decision to withdraw its chargé d’affaires from Warsaw following President Andrzej Duda’s decision to sign the amendment to the administrative procedure codex. He also referred to Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s harsh criticism of the bill.
Lapid stated on social media that “today Poland has approved, not for the first time, an immoral and anti-Semitic law.”
Lapid also ordered the Israel embassy in Warsaw’s charge d’affaires to immediately return to Israel for consultations, indefinitely. He also suggested that Polish ambassador to Israel Marek Magierowski extend his vacation and not return to the country to resume his work.
“The times when Poles hurt Jews without consequences are long gone. Today, Jews have their own proud and strong country,” he wrote.
Jabłoński stated that Lapid’s comments were “feeding off of historic ignorance, hatred, and attempts to create a national conflict and urging hatred towards Poles and Poland.”
He explained that the situation in Israel is much different than the one in Poland.
“When someone has anti-Semitic views in Poland, they keep them to themselves because they are aware that there is no place for such views in public discourse. In Israel, on the other hand, the case with anti-Polish sentiments is different. Anti-Polish discourse basically belongs to the mainstream,” said Jabłoński .
The deputy foreign minister pointed out that one of the main reasons for this difference was how Israeli youth was educated and brought up.
“This propaganda, also based on hatred towards Poland, is fed into the minds of young people from their earliest years of schooling. We will be paying close attention to this situation as we deal with all sorts of school trips from Israel to Poland. It is clear that these trips are being conducted in an incorrect manner. We are reviewing the situation and will make appropriate decisions concerning the matter,” he declared.
Jabłoński stated that public opinion will be informed about the next steps concerning the issues with Israel in the upcoming days.
He also defended ambassador Magierowski and positively evaluated his work. There are no decisions or plans to change his status.
The amendment to the administrative procedure codex, the so-called “restitution law”, changes regulations which order the recognition of an administrative decision as invalid due to “blatant violation of the law” – no matter when the decision was released.
The amendment entails that 30 years after an administrative decision was made, it will be impossible to file a lawsuit meant to question it in the case of, for example, confiscated property.
Title image: A group of Israeli youth visit the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz ahead of the yearly March of the Living, a Holocaust remembrance march, in Oswiecim, Poland, on April 12, 2018. (AP Images)
