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After the president approved a bill to curb compensation claims during World War II, Israel recalled its senior diplomats in Poland.
The Polish president decided to sign a bill that would restrict the ability of Jews to recover property seized by the Nazi German occupiers and retained by the post-war communist rulers. This aroused the outrage of Israel, which called the law “anti-Semitic” Ism”.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Andrzej Duda said: “I made a decision today on the bill, which has become the subject of heated debate at home and abroad in recent months.”
“After in-depth analysis, I decided to sign the amendment.”
Before World War II, Poland was one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, but it was almost completely wiped out by the Nazis. The former Jewish property owners and their descendants have been fighting for compensation.
So far, Jewish diasporas or their descendants can claim that their property has been illegally seized and demand their return, but Polish officials believe this has led to uncertainty about the ownership of the property.
In 2015, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that there should be a specific deadline after which administrative decisions on property ownership can no longer be challenged. Earlier this week, the Polish Parliament passed changes to the law.
The bill sets a 30-year limit Compensation claim.
The issue of Jewish property rights in Poland is more complicated because, unlike other EU countries, it does not set up a fund to provide compensation to people whose property has been seized.
“Unethical Law”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid slammed the decision and ordered the country’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw to return on Saturday.
Rapide said in a statement on Saturday: “It is not the first time that Poland has approved an unethical anti-Semitic law today.”
“Tonight I instructed our charge d’affaires of the embassy in Warsaw to return to Israel for consultations indefinitely,” he said.
“The new Israeli ambassador to Poland who was scheduled to go to Warsaw will stay in Israel temporarily,” Rapide added.
FM @yairlapid“Poland approved today — this is not the first time — an immoral, anti-Semitist law. Tonight, I instruct our charge d’affaires of the embassy in Warsaw to immediately return to Israel for indefinite consultations. (1/ 2)
-Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@IsraelMFA) August 14, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett criticized the law as “shameful” and stated that “this is a shameful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust.”
He said in a statement: “This is a serious measure, and Israel cannot remain indifferent to it.”
Rapid said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would recommend that the Polish envoy to Israel who is currently on vacation “continue to vacation in his country.”
“He should use his time to explain to the Poles what the Holocaust means to the Israelis,” Rapide said.
Israel joins the United States in opposing the legislation, and Lapid said that Israel is negotiating with the Americans on further action plans.
Six million Poles died in Poland during World War II, half of whom were Jews.
After the war, the Communist authorities nationalized a large amount of property that had been vacant due to the killing or escape of the owner.
Although the law covers Jewish and non-Jewish claimants, activists say that Jewish owners will be disproportionately affected because they are often late when making claims after the war.
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