Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuNoam Revkin Fenton/Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday afternoon clarified remarks made by the Prime Minister a day earlier regarding Poland and the Holocaust.

“In a briefing, PM Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland. This was misquoted and misrepresented in press reports and was subsequently corrected by the journalist who issued the initial misstatement,” said the statement.

On Thursday, Netanyahu addressed Poland’s controversial Holocaust law during a state visit to Warsaw.

“Poles collaborated with the Nazis,” said Netanyahu. “See, I’m saying it. It is a fact. And I don’t know a single person who was ever sued because of it.”

While Netanyahu said “Poles”, some people heard "Poland collaborated with the Nazis."

Later on Thursday, Kan 11 News reported that Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is "seriously considering" cancelling his participation in the Visegrad conference, which is scheduled to be held in Israel next week, due to Netanyahu's comments.

Similarly, Polish President Andrzej Duda called to cancel the summit in Israel next week due to Netanyahu’s comments.

On Friday morning, a spokesperson for the Polish government said that Israeli officials have already explained Netanyahu's apparent slip-up, and that the media is manipulating the incident into a crisis.

The Holocaust law, originally approved in January of 2018, made the use of the term "Polish death camp" punishable by up to three years in prison.

The legislation prompted sharp protests from Israel, as well as criticism by the United States, among other countries.

Poland subsequently changed the legislation to remove fines and jail terms of up to three years for anyone found guilty of ascribing Nazi crimes to the Polish nation or state.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)