Talks between a Polish government delegation and Israeli officials over Poland's controversial Holocaust law have failed, Channel 20 reported Monday.
According to the report, the sides tried coming to understandings before delegations from across the globe visit Poland next month to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Failing to reach such understandings by April, the report said, could create an embarrassing situation in light of the current diplomatic dispute over the Holocaust law – which imposes jail sentences of up to three years for suggesting Poland was complicit in Nazi crimes.
The law has drawn outrage in Israel and harsh criticism from Poland's NATO ally the United States.
Israel's Foreign Ministry denied the Channel 20 report and said: "The talks did not fail. They began on Thursday last week. This is an effort that will be ongoing and will require patience from both sides. We will stand firm on matters that are important to Israel and no one will concede them – but to say this is a failure is not true."
The Polish delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki, met in Jerusalem with the Israeli team headed by Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem.
Israel and the United States say the Holocaust law could criminalize truthful scholarship on the role some Poles played in German crimes. Opponents accuse Poland's ruling Law and Justice party of politicizing World War II to build a nationalist sense of grievance among Poles.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Rotem told Israel Hayom that "Israel and Poland enjoy strong bilateral diplomatic ties based on shared values. We need to ensure historical truth is preserved and that there is no restriction on the freedom of speech and research." He said concerns such activities would be criminalized would also be raised at the meeting.
Rotem said the Israeli delegation would "raise our concerns about the significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in recent days. We are aware of the fact that the Polish leadership has condemned these expressions, but it is our intention to discuss the matter."
Cichocki had said Poland was committed to promoting "the truth about the Holocaust and the relations between Poles and Jews for hundreds of years. We are here, open and willing to answer any questions, and to clarify everything that remains to be clarified concerning the law."
In a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to discuss the issue last week, Rotem said the Poles had made clear that "there will be no punishment for historical witnesses, laws, journalists who quote painful historical facts."
