EXCUSIVELY. Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: We are still awaiting the apology from Israel Katz

We have not changed our negative opinion about the words of Israel Katz. We are still awaiting the apology

— said Prof. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with a reporter of the portal wPolityce.pl.

After the dissolution of the parliament and the inability to form the government, the former Acting Foreign Minister of Israel will remain at the head of the ministry.

Israel Katz became the head of Israeli diplomacy in February. A few hours after he took office, he said, referring to words attributed by the Israeli media to Netanyahu:

„(…) Like every Israeli and Jew, I can say: we will not forget and we will not forgive. There were many Poles who collaborated with the Nazis and, as Icchak Szamir, whose father was murdered by Poles, said + Poles sucked out anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk+. And nobody will ever tell us how to express ourselves and how to remember our dead.

His words were criticised by the Polish authorities. As a result, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called off his participation in the February meeting of the Heads of States of the Visegrad Group and Israel in Jerusalem. Also the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jacek Czaputowicz, did not go to the Jewish state at that time.

Until now, Israel Katz has not apologized. The reporter of the portal wPolityce.pl asked the head of Polish diplomacy, Prof. Jacek Czaputowicz, during the Congress „Poland Great Project”, whether after a series of hot conflicts between Poland and Israel, there are any signs of willingness to communicate. Is the Polish side still waiting for an apology for these words?

As far as our relations with Israel are concerned, nothing has changed. We disapprove of the words of the Israeli Foreign Minister Katz concerning ‘innate anti-Semitism’. These words are insulting to us

— stressed the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prof. Czaputowicz pointed out that the solution to this issue is on the Israeli side.

We have not changed our negative opinion

— he added.

Of course, we are observing what is happening in Israel, where the political process has gained some dynamism - the government has not been formulated and the new elections have been called

— said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As he pointed out, the establishment of a stable government in Israel is also important for Poland, among other things because of the Warsaw Process on peace and security in the Middle East.

Tłum. K.J.