Łukasz Jasina, the spokesperson for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday that Israeli children were again welcome to come on educational trips to former Nazi-German sites in Poland - as had been the practice until recently.
However, he added that armed guards were not needed to accompany children - in the same way that they are not needed on trips to France or Germany.
The statement was made in response to the words of the Israeli ambassador to Poland - Yacov Livine. Livine had complained during an event commemorating the 79th anniversary of the uprising in the Sobibor extermination camp that it was a pity that Israeli schoolchildren could not visit historic sites in Poland, as they once had.
Mr Jasina expressed regret that the Israeli ambassador had chosen to make his comments publicly; the ambassador has been invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further talks.
Israel cancelled school trips to Poland in 2022, accusing Poland of attempting to interfere in the educational content of those trips. Relations between the two countries had been strained since Poland introduced a law in 2018 prohibiting statements that Poland was responsible for Nazi crimes. (Israeli i24 news station)
Sources: PAP, i24
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