An exchange of both anti-Jewish and anti-Poland comments flooded the media space both in Poland and Israel after Polish Senate approved so-called Holocaust bill on Tuesday. The bill criminalizes any accusations against Poland of complicity in war crimes during World War II, including the Holocaust, as well as any denials of the killings of Poles by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the same period, and banishes the Ukrainian nationalist ideology. The law is now pending the signature of Polish President Andrzej Duda.
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"In the last few days we could not help but notice a wave of anti-Semitic statements, reaching the Embassy through all channels of communication. Many of them targeted Ambassador Anna Azari personally," the statement read.
According to the embassy, the anti-Semitic statements are "overflowing" the internet channels and even mainstream TV channels, such as TVP Info. The Israeli embassy hopes that the two sides would be able to overcome the existing row and "cooperate in an atmosphere of dialogue and shared understanding."
The Polish Senate passed the bill at a late-night session that continued into Thursday morning. It bans, among other things, the ideology associated with Ukrainian war criminal and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera who killed thousands of Poles together with his associates in Volhynia. Many Ukrainians regard him as a national hero who fought against the Soviets.