Benjamin Netanyahu’s comparatively low-key response when Mateusz Morawiecki referred to “Jewish collaborators” in the Holocaust was motivated by his desire to host a summit of Eastern European leaders in Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu said on Saturday night that the Polish Prime Minister’s remarks were “outrageous”, but also excused them as a “misunderstanding of history”.
He also did not respond to demands by Israeli politicians to summon Israel’s ambassador in Poland back for consultations.
Israeli diplomats believe this was because he does not want to jeopardise his ambition of hosting the influential Visegrad Group, which is made up of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — all European Union member states.
