Polish coalition jeopardizes cooperation on Holocaust education
Jerusalem is stopping short of a formal boycott of relations with Roman Giertych, but has decided instead to shun any dealings with him, said Tali Samesh, a senior official in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
"The Polish education minister is the president of a Polish party... that is an anti-Semitic party by definition, therefore we are not interested in having contacts with him," Samesh said. "We are not initiating anything with that minister."
Poland plays a pivotal role in Holocaust remembrance, because Nazi Germany's death camps such as Auschwitz, Chelmno, Majdanek and Treblinka, were set up on occupied Polish territory.
Under communism, Poland's authorities downplayed Jewish suffering in the Holocaust; but since the collapse of communism 16 years ago, the country has made great strides in promoting Holocaust education and building strong ties with Israel.
The League, known by its initials in Polish, LPR, is a small ultra-Catholic and nationalist party that joined the governing coalition in early May, sparking street protests in Warsaw and other cities.
The Jewish community is also concerned about the party's far-right youth wing, the All-Polish Youth, consisting of members who have used Nazi slogans and gestures. The League itself is ideologically linked to a pre-World War II party, National Democracy, that led successful efforts to limit the numbers of Jews at Polish universities and segregate them from Christians.
"We have a standing policy not to talk to LPR members, and this goes back before the formation of this coalition," Israel's ambassador to Poland, David Peleg, told The Associated Press. "I am not going to meet or to talk to Mr. Giertych."
Giertych denied he was anti-Semitic and indicated he found Peleg's stance unfair.
"I like the Jewish nation and I can't see a reason why the ambassador doesn't like me," Giertych was quoted as saying by the news agency PAP.
The governing Law and Justice party, a socially conservative party, formed the coalition with the league and another small party, Self-Defense, in May.
Peleg said he has expressed his displeasure to Polish leaders over handing the Education Ministry to this party. According to Peleg, the Education Ministry forms the "core" of Polish-Jewish and Polish-Israeli. The ministry oversees Holocaust education in Poland, youth exchanges and the annual March of the Living, a Holocaust remembrance march at Auschwitz-Birkenau that draws thousands from Israel.
Peleg said Polish leaders have suggested they might transfer all Israel-related matters to a different ministry in order to facilitate Israeli-Polish cooperation - a move Peleg supports.
Giertych suggested Peleg was overstepping his bounds by pushing for such a solution, saying, "It's not a good practice for the ambassador to suggest what the scope of certain ministries should be."
A new prime minister and Cabinet are expected to take office in coming days, after Law and Justice accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz on Saturday.