The Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Israeli Knesset yesterday started official steps to recall the country’s ambassador to Poland in protest against a Polish bill that criminalises accusations of complicity in the Holocaust, local media revealed reported.

According to Quds Press, Israeli radio reported the move, which was introduced by the Zionist Union Members of the Knesset Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin and gained the support of many other MKs.

This move comes after the Polish parliament approved a law that disclaims Polish complicity with in the Holocaust that took place in Poland during WWII when the country was under German occupation.

Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the law last week, but before it is enforced it must get the final approval from Poland’s constitutional court.

According to the Times of Israel, the law sets fines or a maximum three-year jail term for anyone blaming “responsibility or co-responsibility on the Polish nation or state for crimes committed by the German Third Reich - or other crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

The US, France and Israel have criticised the law. Israel refused to receive a Polish delegation last week while Israel’s Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister, Naftali Bennett, had his trip to Poland cancelled following comments he made about the law.

Source: Quds Press International News Agency
Translated by: Middle East Monitor
In collaboration with the Palestinian Media Forum