Polish politician compares Israel to Nazi Germany

Far-right Polish lawmaker Konrad Berkowicz sparked outrage in the Polish parliament in Warsaw on Tuesday after displaying an Israeli flag in which the Star of David had been replaced with a Nazi swastika and accusing Israel of becoming the “new Third Reich” for carrying out genocide in Gaza, Polish media reported.

Berkowicz held up the altered flag during a speech in the Sejm -- Poland’s lower house of parliament -- where he attacked the Israeli government and called for Poland to sever ties with Israel. “The state of Israel has become the new Third Reich,” he proclaimed, accusing the nation of committing crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

The incident prompted immediate protests from other lawmakers in the chamber, with several shouting “scandal” and demanding that Berkowicz leave the podium. Berkowicz has repeatedly used parliamentary appearances to make anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements since the start of the Gaza war. He previously disrupted a Hanukkah ceremony in parliament with a fire extinguisher and earlier this year in the European Parliament, interrupted a Holocaust memorial silence to speak about what he called the “Jewish genocide in Gaza.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned the display, saying on social media that “there is no place in Polish public life for anti-Semitism, hate or the desecration of the memory of the victims of Nazi crimes.” Parliamentary speaker Szymon Holownia said he had instructed parliamentary lawyers to examine whether Berkowicz’s remarks and the altered flag violated Polish law.

Members of the governing coalition and opposition alike denounced Berkowicz’s actions. Krzysztof Gawkowski described the speech as “pure anti-Semitism dressed up as political commentary,” while opposition lawmaker Michal Szczerba said Berkowicz had “crossed every possible line.”

The Israeli embassy in Warsaw said it was “appalled” by the incident and called on Polish authorities to respond firmly. In a statement, the embassy said that equating the Israeli flag with Nazi symbolism was “an outrageous distortion of history and an insult to the victims of the Holocaust.”