The Polish ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem for an official reprimand on Tuesday after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that Israeli politicians were responsible for hungry Palestinian children in Gaza and brought up the memory of World War Two.
The envoy, Maciej Hunia, was called in to the Foreign Ministry for a “demarche conversation” following “unacceptable” statements by the Polish prime minister and Foreign Ministry, according to the Israeli ministry.
“The statements falsely accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon, and included an outrageous reference to concentration camps,” said the ministry.
“Israel strongly rejects these accusations, and expects Poland to refrain from using language that distorts history and denigrates the memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” the statement continued.
The Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv declined to comment.
The senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official who met with the ambassador noted that Israel is fighting a terrorist organization that openly seeks the murder of Jews and Israelis, and the destruction of Israel.
“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,” the ministry added.
In a Polish-language X post on Sunday, Tusk rebuked unnamed politicians for the hunger in Gaza and rekindled the memory of World War Two, a traditional sore point in bilateral relations between the two countries due to Poland’s mixed role in the Holocaust.
“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 children. This must be obvious to nations that together went through the hell of World War II,” wrote Tusk.
Sharing a screenshot of his post, the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote: “Unfortunately, Poland Prime Minister @donaldtusk 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 Prime Minister of Poland should remember the lesson of ‘Never Again,’” referencing the slogan associated with remembrance of the Holocaust, the systemic murder of six million Jews which was largely carried out in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.
“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.”
