The ban comes after controversy over a proposed new law that could mean a jail term for anyone who accuses Poland of being complicit in Nazi German crimes in World War II.
Mazowieckie Province Governor Zdzisław Sipiera has banned all movement around the Israeli embassy from 1 pm local time on Wednesday until midnight on February 5, saying that Warsaw's mayor should not have approved the protest, planned for 5 pm.
Sipiera said he ordered the streets closed around the embassy to "tone down emotions."
Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudziński had asked Sipiera, who is authorised to ban marches in the province which encompasses Warsaw, to stop the protest from going ahead because it was a threat to the national interest, the RMF FM private radio station said.
The protest had been planned by far-right groups the National Movement (Ruch Narodowy), All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska) and the National-Radical Camp (Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny), the National Movement said on its website.
“In recent days, a number of lies have come from Israeli representatives about the attitude of Poland and Poles during World War II,” the National Movement said, advertising the protest on its website.
“We cannot remain inactive in the face of these lies,” it added.
Israel slams proposed Polish law
Israel has slammed planned legal changes in Poland which, if enacted, would carry penalties for anyone who publicly ascribes blame to the Polish nation or state for crimes committed by Nazi Germany.
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said that the controversial law was designed to "stop the smear campaign against Poland for its alleged involvement in the crime of the Holocaust.”
Polish government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcińska said: "It was the Germans who attacked Poland, while the Poles and Jews were the victims.”
Kopcińska added: "There were no Polish death camps, no Polish concentration camps or Polish extermination camps. We must set the record straight by continually explaining and clarifying things.”
But Israeli ambassador to Poland Anna Azari said: "In Israel, this bill is seen as creating a possibility of punishment for Holocaust survivors' testimony."
Israeli ambassador hopes tensions can be resolved
Azari told Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily that she hoped tensions between her country and Poland could be resolved by working groups from both nations that are due to conduct dialogue on the matter.
The Polish and Israeli prime ministers have agreed their countries would hold dialogue.
GermanDeathCamps.info, a new educational website aimed at debunking misconceptions about Poland’s role in the Holocaust, has been launched by Polish Radio.
Poland's deputy security services chief, Maciej Wąsik, has said on Twitter: “With all respect for the right to [public] assembly and matters of freedom of expression, I believe that a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy is a very bad idea. And no one will care if a given slogan or banner is authorised by organisers or not. All it takes is one agitator.”
Kopcińska earlier said that any demonstration could go ahead as long as it was peaceful. (vb/pk)
Source: IAR