We, the Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Warsaw at a defining moment for the security of our nations and populations. Joshua Davidovich contributed to this report.1. Asked by one reporter to clarify “Did the Poles collaborate in the Holocaust or not,” the prime minister referred her tersely to his spokeswoman. On the plane heading back to Israel on Friday, Netanyahu appeared to have learned his lesson from the controversies his words had caused throughout the trip. In a Hebrew-language video message recorded before he headed to the Warsaw conference, the prime minister hailed the fact that an Israeli leader was about to sit down with senior officials from “leading Arab countries” in order to “advance the common interest of combating Iran.”Īn official translation of the statement translated the Hebrew phrase milhama b’Iran literally as “war with Iran.” An hour after the statement was published, Netanyahu’s staff hurriedly amended the statement, saying that Arab countries wee sitting down together with Israel in order to “advance the common interest of combating Iran.” On Wednesday in Warsaw, Netanyahu’s words also raised eyebrows in a different context. Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on this development, which was first reported in Polish media. Nonetheless, Azari was summoned by Poland’s Foreign Ministry for a dressing down over the issue, The Times of Israel confirmed Friday. Jerusalem’s explanation seemed to assuage Warsaw’s concerns, with the presidential office thanking Israel for the clarification and blaming “media manipulation” by The Jerusalem Post. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)Īs for The Jerusalem Post’s error, Cohen told The Times of Israel: “The prime minister’s comments concerning Poland were misquoted by The Jerusalem Post, which quickly issued a correction clarifying that an error had been made in the editing of the article.” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki arrives at the informal EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, September 20, 2018. (Journalists were not allowed to record the briefing, making it difficult to quickly verify what the prime minister had said.) Several reporters in the room reported Netanyahu had said “the.” But the Prime Minister’s Office spokeswoman Shir Cohen later played reporters a recording of the conversation in which it was clear the prime minister had indeed not used the definite article. Israel’s Ambassador to Poland Anna Azari took pains Thursday night to clarify that this was not the case.Īzari told Polish leaders the Israeli premier “didn’t say the Polish nation carried out crimes against Jews, but only that no one has been sued under the Holocaust law for saying ‘Poles collaborated’.” Polish furor was apparently a response to reports that indicated Netanyahu had referred to the Polish nation as a whole. He added that “a not insignificant number” of Poles had collaborated and said “I don’t know one person who was sued for saying that.” I bring it up,” he said, noting the matter of the law had come up in a meeting earlier on Thursday with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. I know the history and I don’t whitewash it. “Here I am saying Poles cooperated with the Nazis. Questioned on the issue by The Times of Israel during a briefing with the traveling press Thursday, Netanyahu denied suggestions of going along with historical revisionism.
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