Israel Asks Polish Official to Postpone Jerusalem Trip Following Controversial Holocaust Law

Visitors to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews look at exhibits from the Warsa
AP/Czarek Sokolowski

The Times of Israel reports: Israel has canceled the planned visit to the country of Poland’s national security adviser, Pawel Soloch, amid an escalating row between the two governments over legislation in Poland that seeks to criminalize any intentional attempt to attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish state or nation.

“In light of the Polish Senate’s approval of the bill, Israel asked to postpone the planned visit in Israel of the head of the Polish national security council,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. Soloch was scheduled to travel to Israel on February 4-7, with a planned visit at Israel’s official Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

The cancellation follows the Polish Senate’s vote on Wednesday passing a bill regulating Holocaust speech. The upper house of the Polish parliament, or Sejm, voted 57-23, with two abstentions, to approve the bill, putting it a step closer to becoming law. It must still be signed into law by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who supports it.

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