Poland seeks apology over Israel foreign minister's Holocaust remarks

Poland is still awaiting an apology from Israel over comments made by Israel's acting foreign minister regarding the role of Poles in the Nazi Holocaust, said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek on Tuesday.

"We leave it to Israeli leaders to choose what form of reaction they will have and who will react, but it should be a unified and definite one," Szynkowski told reporters.

Poland pulled out of an Israeli-hosted summit of the central European Visegrad Group of countries after taking umbrage at remarks by Israel's acting foreign minister, Israel Katz, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Katz said on Monday "many Poles" had collaborated with the Nazis in the Second World War and shared responsibility for the Holocaust.

Viktor Orban urged Poland and Israel on Tuesday to resolve their dispute. The Hungarian prime minister and counterparts from Slovakia and the Czech Republic held back-to-back talks with Netanyahu on Tuesday in lieu of the formal gathering that also includes Poland.

"I think it would be better that they would be here, and we have good friendship with Poland, as you know ... and we have good friendship with Israel," Orban, asked by a reporter if he was disappointed by Poland's absence, said after meeting Netanyahu.

"When you have two friends having discussions with each other the only hope you can have is that they will talk directly with each other and improve the situation. That's my hope also."

Netanyahu, who was standing at the podium with Orban when the question was asked, did not respond directly, saying only that the Hungarian leader was a "superb diplomat."

Controversial legislation scaled back

The diplomatic row has been escalating since Friday, when some Israeli media reported remarks by Netanyahu in which he appeared to accuse the Polish nation of involvement in the Holocaust.

Netanyahu's office said he had been misquoted in his response to a reporter's question during a visit to Warsaw about Polish legislation related to Holocaust remembrance, and that he had not cast any blanket blame.

Many Poles refuse to accept research showing thousands of their countrymen participated in the Holocaust in addition to thousands of others who risked their lives to help the Jews.

Many of the six million Jewish dead perished in camps in Poland during its occupation by Nazi Germany.

Poland, U.S. co-host Middle East peace summit in Warsaw

6 years ago

Duration 8:13

'in diplomacy there's always the chance, we never close the doors,' says Poland's ambassador to Canada, Andrzej Kurnicki.

Tensions between Israel and Poland also rose last year after Poland introduced new legislation that would have made the use of phrases such as "Polish death camps" punishable by up to three years in prison.

After pressure from the United States and an outcry in Israel, Poland watered down the legislation, scrapping the prison sentences.

Poland hosted dozens of nations, including Israel, at a security conference in Warsaw last week where the main topic was countering Iran's growing influence in the Middle East.