BICOM

The US State Department criticised the Holocaust Bill passed by the Polish Senate yesterday, which could see individuals who “intentionally attempt to falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish nation” face up to three years in prison.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that: “The history of the Holocaust is painful and complex. We understand that phrases such as ‘Polish death camps’ are inaccurate, misleading, and hurtful…[but] if enacted this draft legislation could undermine free speech and academic discourse. We all must be careful not to inhibit discussion and commentary on the Holocaust. We believe open debate, scholarship, and education are the best means of countering inaccurate and hurtful speech.”

The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, now has 21 days to sign the legislation into law.

According to reports in the Israeli press, the vote was held despite understandings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to form joint working teams to formulate an agreed-upon wording of the Bill. Yesterday, Morawiecki said on the Polish state television TVP: “We will never limit the freedom to debate the Holocaust…We understand the emotions of Israel. We need a lot of work to make our common, often complicated, history possible to tell together.”

Members of the Knesset from across the political spectrum condemned the bill yesterday. Strategic Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz said that the Israeli Ambassador to Poland should be recalled while former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that the Polish Bill “spat in Israel’s face twice: once as the state of the Jewish people, and once in the face of Israel’s Prime Minister. He came to an agreement with his Polish counterpart, and then they ignored it.” Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid sent a letter to the EU Ambassador to Israel calling to condemn the Polish bill.

A visit by the Director of the Polish National Security Council, who was due to be in Israel on Sunday has been postponed at the request of Israeli government officials.