Poland denies report president blamed Israel for antisemitism

Polish president Andrzej Duda has denied claims he told Jewish leaders in New York this week that Israeli anti-Polish rhetoric was to blame for rising antisemitism in the country.

Duda’s office denied on Friday a report in the Jewish Insider, claiming he blamed past remarks by Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz on Polish antisemitism for a growing number of antisemitic attacks in the country.

The piece, published yesterday citing several “participants” as sources, reports that Duda described the foreign minister’s previous claim Poles “suckle antisemitism with their mothers’ milk” made earlier this year as a “humiliation” that contributed to rising anti-Jewish incidents in Poland.

The website also maintains eyewitnesses said Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg was in the meeting and defended the remarks.

But Duda’s spokesperson denied the report, telling Haaretz: “The quote is not only inaccurate. It is plainly not true. President Duda never said that ‘Israel is responsible for recent antisemitic attacks in Poland.’ All participants of the said meeting can corroborate this. The ‘Jewish Insider’ made this up.”

The Jewish Insider report sparked concern in the community, with Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl saying prior to the denial: “Blaming the Israeli government for increasing antisemitism in Poland is outrageous.

“Antisemitism and any other form of xenophobia can never be justified. Polish President Andrzej Duda should retract his statement immediately.”