In the wake of a vicious exchange between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, regarding an IDF soldier taking a sledgehammer to a statue of Jesus in Lebanon, the two countries have found something else to argue about.
Now, the Israeli embassy in Poland has reposted in Polish a message from Israel’s Foreign Ministry calling for Polish authorities to remove a Confederation MP from the Polish Sejm for his actions of criticizing Israeli military’s campaigns against civilians in Gaza while holding an Israeli flag with a swastika in the middle of the flag.
During the incident, MP Konrad Berkowicz had given a speech harshly criticizing Israel and its armed forces, even mentioning Israel’s use of banned weapons, such as phosphorus bombs, and the suffering of civilians, including women and children.
During his speech, Berkowicz emphasized that dozens of times more children died than during the entire war in Ukraine, notes Do Rzeczy.
“Israel is committing genocide before our eyes with particular cruelty,” the Confederation MP said openly. At the end of his speech, during the formal motion, the parliamentarian held out an Israeli flag, which featured a swastika incorporated into the Israeli flag instead of the Star of David.
The Israeli Ministry took to X to respond: “Polish MP Konrad Berkowicz’s dubious record includes public support of Nazism. History has shown where racism and antisemitism lead, as Poland knows all too well. Such a person has no place in the parliament of democratic Poland. We expect the Polish authorities to act decisively and swiftly.”
Berkowicz has also responded to this post, stating on X:
You won’t believe this. Just a moment ago, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli embassy in Poland issued a demand to the Polish authorities to respond to my recent speech. They suggested stripping me of my parliamentary mandate. Do you understand? The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding that the Polish authorities do something to prevent me from sitting in the Polish parliament.
It won’t be Israel deciding who can sit in the Polish parliament and who cannot. History has shown what Nazism leads to—Poland knows this all too well. That’s why we are not and will not remain indifferent to a repeat of history that is currently unfolding in the Middle East.
I hope that the brazen lie about my alleged “public support for Nazism” will be met with an appropriate response from the Polish authorities and the justice system. And I advise Israel to deal with the real Nazis it has in its own government, headed by the prime minister—a criminal and genocidal murderer, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Nie uwierzycie. Przed chwilą Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych Izraela i ambasada Izraela w Polsce wystosowały oczekiwanie do polskich władz, by zareagować na moje ostatnie wystąpienie. Zasugerowano, by pozbawić mnie mandatu posła. Rozumiecie? Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych… pic.twitter.com/NXwjOzKvg4
— Konrad Berkowicz (@KonradBerkowicz) April 21, 2026Government spokesperson Maciej Wewiór posted his response to the situation, also reposted by Foreign Minister Sikorski: “MP @KonradBerkowicz is facing the consequences of his behavior. He paid a 500 zł fine, and now the Sejm has imposed the highest possible penalty on him. The prosecutor’s office is examining his statements. As for his fine – it is Poles who elect their MPs, not foreign embassies.”
The MP will also reportedly receive only half his salary for the next three months, due to his “blatant violation of the dignity of the Sejm.” However, Berkowicz’s violation does not appear to be his criticism of Israel and its military but his use of fascist symbols, i.e., the swastika on the Israeli flag.
According to Polish law, the public use and display of the swastika, as a symbol of Nazi ideology, is strictly prohibited.
Israel and Jewish groups across Europe have long maintained that any parallels drawn between the Holocaust and what critics have labeled the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza (and their treatment in the West Bank) are a strict form of antisemitism. However, critics of Israel, many on the left but also some on the right, maintain that such parallels highlight Israeli actions in their neighborhood.
In a recent post on X, calling out Facebook for banning his post there, Berkowicz offers alleged details of a weapon he claims Israeli is using against Gazans. “Jews are using the banned phosphorus bomb, which consumes oxygen from the air and leads to their death by suffocation. More. The smoke from this bomb gets into the lungs and burns them from the inside. They suffocate and burn from the inside at the same time. Tens of thousands of women and children. But if some child gets lucky and doesn’t suffocate, the white phosphorus will stick to their cheek, to their little hand, and burn through the tissues down to the bone. It can’t be extinguished, so they cut off the cheek, amputate the hand.”
Israel’s use of white phosphorous has been documented by multiple organizations, including the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
