Polish Bill On Jewish Property Causes Row With Israel

Israel has summoned Poland’s ambassador to express its “deep disappointment” over a Polish bill that critics say will make it harder for Jews to recover property they lost in World War II, a move that triggered a reciprocal reaction from Warsaw.

Poland’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed a draft bill introducing a statute of limitations on claims for the restitution of property, drawing a furious response from Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who labelled it a “disgrace”.

A statement from the Israeli foreign ministry on Sunday said the legislation could affect up to 90 percent of property restitution requests from Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

“This is not a historical debate about responsibility for the Holocaust but a moral debt of Poland to those who were its citizens and whose property was looted during the Holocaust and under the communist regime,” the statement said.

The Polish foreign ministry, in turn, summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said on Sunday.

Jablonski said Warsaw would like to set the record straight about the legislation.

Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon, the Israeli charge d’affaires, “has been summoned and we will explain to her in a decisive and factual way what it’s about”, the Polish diplomat told state television TVP.

“We believe that unfortunately what we’re dealing with here is a situation that certain Israeli politicians are exploiting for internal political purposes,” he added.

The Israeli embassy in Warsaw tweeted on Thursday that “this immoral law will seriously impact relations between our countries.”

Poland’s foreign ministry said on Friday the introduction of time limits would “lead to the elimination of fraud and irregularities, which occurred on a large scale”.

“The new regulations do not in any way restrict the possibility of bringing civil suits to seek damages, irrespective of the plaintiff’s nationality or origin,” it added.