Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid responded to the approval today by the Polish Senate of the Polish restitution law, calling the legislation damaging to relations between Israel and Poland.
“This legislation will severely damage our relations with Poland. Poland knows very well what the right and proper thing to do is,” said Lapid.
He noted that “Israel is following with great concern the progress of the legislative process in Poland on the restitution rights of property which was looted from Holocaust victims.”
“We consider every progress in this legislative process as a serious development. We will firmly defend the dignity of Holocaust victims, their memory and their rights,” said Lapid. “This legislation will severely damage our relations with Poland. As I said before, Poland knows very well what the right and proper thing to do is.”
On Thursday, it was reported that Israel asked the Biden administration to support its effort against the Polish restitution legislation that would restrict claims by Holocaust survivors and their families for property stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
A Haaretz report said that Lapid was in talks with Washington on the matter and had raised the issue in his conversations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked for his help.