Foreign Ministry officials criticize the line taken by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on the issue of the crisis with Poland.
According to them, his approach is wrong and will cost Israel heavy and unnecessary political prices.
Poland is one of the five most powerful countries in the European Union, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki threatened yesterday that "if the Israeli government continues to attack Poland in this way, it will also have a very negative effect on our relations - both bilaterally and in international forums."
It is estimated that Morveyecki means that his country will initiate decisions against Israel in EU institutions and other international forums, in response to the opposite line that Lapid leads.
Polish Prime Minister Mataus Morawiecki // Photo: EPI,
The international community has so far not responded to Lapid's line.
The European Union, which has previously opposed problematic laws approved by Poland, has refrained from commenting on the new law.
Even the United States, which Lapid hoped would take a tough line toward Poland, has yet to respond to ratification of the law, which prevents Jews from filing claims for property that belonged to their family or Jewish communities.
Torch: "Not blinked"
The position of some of the professionals in the Foreign Ministry was that more measured measures should be taken towards Warsaw, and not to exacerbate the crisis in such an extreme way.
Among other things, the ministry agrees that the law that Poland has approved is problematic - but it perpetuates a situation that exists in practice in all European countries, except Germany.
"The Poles have taken a public step, a policy that everyone else is taking quietly," said one of the diplomats who dealt with the issue.
In the last two months, the Foreign Ministry has held several discussions on how to treat the law.
Some of the professionals suggested, as mentioned, to take a more measured line than that of Lapid.
The Lapid bureau refused to comment.
Lapid himself responded last night to an attack by the Polish prime minister, saying that "the negative impact on our relations began as soon as Poland chose in 2018 to start passing laws aimed at harming the memory of the Holocaust and the Jewish people."
"The times when Poles harmed Jews without response - have passed and will not return. Jews today have a proud and strong state of their own. We are not afraid of antisemitic threats, and we have no intention of blinking at the shameful behavior of the anti - democratic Polish government."
