Jerusalem summons Polish ambassador for dressing down after Prime Minister Donald Tusk accuses Israel of starving Gazans, comparing situation to World War II.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Prime Minister of Poland sparked a diplomatic row with Israel this week with accusations that the Jewish state has caused a famine in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk published a tweet in Polish expressing support for Israel’s war with Hamas, while at the same time accusing Israel of causing a famine in Gaza which, he claimed, has killed “mothers and their children.”

“Poland was, is, and will be on Israel’s side in its confrontation with Islamic terrorism, but never on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the death of mothers and their children,” Tusk wrote, invoking the legacy of World War II.

“This must be obvious to nations that together went through the hell of World War II.”

On Monday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry pushed back on Tusk’s comments, slamming his attempt to compare the war in Gaza to the Second World War.

“Unfortunately, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk is linking his timely condemnation of Hamas with an unacceptable reference to politicians, accompanied by a reminder of the horrible days of World War II,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“The Prime Minister of Poland should remember the lesson of ‘Never Again.’
Never Again, Prime Minister Tusk, applies to our era’s new Nazis and their collaborators, Hamas. Israel acts within international law. When Poland is threatened, you don’t take risks either.”

A day later, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish Ambassador to Israel, Maciej Hunia, for a formal dressing down over Tusk’s “unacceptable statements.”

“Israel firmly rejects these accusations and expects Poland to refrain from using language that distorts history and dishonors the memory of Holocaust victims,” the ministry announced.

“Israel is fighting a terrorist organization that openly seeks the murder of Jews and Israelis, and the destruction of Israel,” the statement reads.

“Israel acts under international humanitarian law and has significantly expanded its humanitarian aid efforts — including the entry of additional aid convoys into the Gaza Strip, humanitarian pauses, the opening of safe passage routes for aid delivery, infrastructure repairs, and airdrops of humanitarian supplies — including coordination with the European Union.”

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Poland must counter a wave of “very injudicious anti-Semitic excesses in statements been made in Poland,” the European Council President said. 

By: World Israel News Staff

A European Union (EU) leader has called on Poland to rein in its public surge of anti-Semitism, saying the situation “is very serious and directly affects Polish interests, the reputation of Poland and Poland’s standing in the world.”

European Council President Donald Tusk spoke to reporters on Friday following an informal meeting of the 27 heads of EU states, during which he was asked about “recent tensions” with Poland surrounding its new controversial bill that criminalizes the use of the term “Polish Holocaust.”

Tusk, himself a former Polish prime minister, said he discussed the issue with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. He told the Polish leader that the “situation is very serious and directly affects Polish interests, the reputation of Poland and Poland’s standing in the world.”

Tusk said he had “only one piece of advice” – Poland must do everything to stop two waves of controversy, the wave of bad opinions about Poland which is “taking on the proportions of a tsunami,” and the wave of “very injudicious anti-Semitic excesses in statements been made in Poland.”

“The government has the ways to stop both of these waves if it has the will to do so,” Tusk underscored.

The new Polish law has angered Israel, the US and other countries, and is seen as an attempt to whitewash the actions of Poles who murdered Jews or collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust.

“We have all done a lot of hard work in Poland over the last 30 years, including me, to ensure that Poland has good relations with the outside world, including with Israel and the Jewish community. We cannot allow anyone to ruin all that work in the space of just a few weeks. But it is not yet too late for concrete action to be taken. It is not too late for common decency,” Tusk said.

Poland’s Holocaust law, which takes effect February 28, has already triggered rising anti-Semitism in Poland. In reaction to criticism from Holocaust historians and others, the government said it will be reviewed by Poland’s constitutional court.

Princeton University Professor Jan Tomasz Gross, an expert on Polish complicity in the Holocaust, previously stated that Poland’s new stance dissociating itself from the Holocaust is “a step back to the dark ages of anti-Semitism.” The Polish-born sociologist and historian has stoked controversy in Poland with works that expose dark chapters in a wartime history of which Poles are otherwise proud, thanks to a strong resistance by Poles to Nazi Germany.

The latest uproar surrounding Gross began after he asserted in 2015 that Poles killed more Jews than Germans during the war. Though the exact numbers are difficult to measure, Gross said evidence indicates that Poles killed up to 30,000 Germans during the war, at most, while they probably killed 70,000 to 90,000 Jews, but possibly more.

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The president of the EU Council says Erdogan, who accused the Netherlands of engaging in fascism, is “detached from reality.” 

European Union (EU) officials are standing behind the Netherlands in its diplomatic spat with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, who accused the Dutch of engaging in fascism and Nazi policies.

“If anyone sees fascism in Rotterdam, they are completely detached from reality,”Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council, told the European Parliament on Wednesday. “We all show solidarity with the Netherlands.”

The European Commission’s chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, said he was “scandalized” by Erdogan’s remarks.

“If you are establishing a comparison with the (Nazi) period, this is totally unacceptable,” Juncker said. “The one who is doing this is taking distance from Europe and not trying to enter Europe.”

Erdogan made his accusations against the Netherlands after the Dutch government banned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from addressing a rally in Rotterdam on Saturday. Cavusoglu was campaigning to garner support from Turkish immigrants for a referendum that would expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

Erdogan had made similar remarks against Germany.

In a statement, the Dutch government said that it “could not cooperate in the public political campaigning of Turkish ministers in the Netherlands.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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