Poland's Senate has backed legislation regulating Holocaust speech, a move that has already strained relations with both Israel and the United States. The bill proposed by Poland's ruling conservative party and voted for early Thursday calls for up to three years in prison for any intentional attempt to falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish state or people. Though the bill exempts artistic and research work, it has raised concerns that the Polish state will decide itself what it considers to be facts. The vote has already sparked a diplomatic dispute with Israel and drawn calls from the United States for a reconsideration. Senators voted 57 to 23 in favor of the bill with two abstentions.
To become law, the bill requires approval from President , who supports it. Though Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki suggested Israel had been consulted on the bill and voiced no objections, many in Israel have argued that the move is an attempt to whitewash the role some Poles played in the killing of Jews during World War II. Halina Birenbaum, a Holocaust survivor and acclaimed Israeli author, called the new law "madness," telling Israel's Army Radio it was "ludicrous and disproportionate to what actually happened to Jews there." Birenbaum, a member of the International Auschwitz Committee, said she was concerned the Polish government "might arrest me there for what I'm saying now." And Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said the law constituted "a denial of Poland's part in the Holocaust of the Jews." He called on Netanyahu to immediately recall Israel's ambassador to Poland for consultation. "In the balance between diplomatic considerations and moral considerations, there must be a clear decision: perpetuating the memory of the victims of the Holocaust above any other consideration." Working groups in Poland and Israel are to start discussing the issue this week, although it was not clear what effect it could have on the bill. Just hours before the Senate's vote, the U. S. asked Poland to rethink the proposed legislation saying it could "undermine free speech and academic discourse." State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert voiced concern about the "repercussions this draft legislation, if enacted, could have on Poland's strategic interests and relationships including with the United States and Israel.