A Polish delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki held talks with officials in Jerusalem on Thursday to diffuse the biggest diplomatic standoff between the two countries in decades spurred by a controversial Holocaust law.
In Jerusalem, the Polish delegation met with an Israeli delegation headed by Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem.
The law, which went into effect on Thursday, imposes jail sentences of up to three years for suggesting Poland was complicit in Nazi crimes. It has drawn outrage in Israel and harsh criticism from Poland's NATO ally the United States.
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.
A diplomatic official said the teams were working on the formulation of a joint statement. He said the Israeli delegation had voiced their concerns the legislation would make it harder to conduct historical research into the Holocaust.
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 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."
