Israeli leaders have reacted furiously to a planned Polish law that would make it illegal to suggest that Poland bore responsibility for the crimes committed on its land by Nazi Germany during the second World War. However, the proposed changes – which must still be approved by Poland’s upper house and president – have provoked outrage in Israel, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the law as “baseless”. The Polish embassy in Israel responded that his claims were “unsupportable” and showed “how badly Holocaust education is needed, even here in Israel”. Polish historyPatryk Jaki, Poland’s deputy justice minister, who proposed the legislation, said that the bill was not “against Israel”, but aimed to “properly point out the perpetrators”. “The amended act provides for a penalty in precisely defined situations for the purpose of preventing intentional defamation of Poland.

Source: The Irish Times January 28, 2018 16:18 UTC