Poland’s parliament erupted in fury after a far-right opposition MP brandished an Israeli flag twisted with a Nazi swastika instead of the Star of David. The incendiary stunt ignited calls for a criminal probe, with ruling coalition MPs demanding prosecutors step in.
Far-Right MP Brands Israel “New Third Reich”
Konrad Berkowicz of the 16-seat Confederation bloc shocked the Sejm—a 460-seat lower house—by waving the grotesque altered flag during a speech. “Israel is the new Third Reich, and its flag should look exactly like this,” he declared, directly accusing the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza. Before the flag reveal, Berkowicz claimed the death toll of Palestinian children dwarfs war casualties in Ukraine. He also baselessly accused Israel of using phosphorus munitions against civilians. “Israel is committing genocide before our eyes with particular cruelty,” he blustered.
Political Backlash and Calls for Prosecutors
The parliamentary speaker swiftly condemned the stunt, and members of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s ruling coalition demanded legal action. Despite MPs’ usual immunity, prosecutors are being pressured to investigate possible hate speech or antisemitic incitement. The Confederation party wasted no time amplifying the outrage online. Official social media accounts shared clips of Berkowicz’s speech, with party leader Sławomir Mentzen adding fuel to the fire by tweeting in English: “Israel is the new Third Reich!”
Controversy Amid Poland’s Fraught History
The far-right Confederation holds just 16 seats but often sparks outsized media firestorms with provocative rhetoric. Their tactics come as Europe remains deeply divided over responses to the Gaza conflict. Poland itself wrestles with a painful past, having been ground zero for the Holocaust, where millions of Jews were murdered under Nazi occupation. Using Nazi symbols and equating Israel with the Third Reich is widely seen as antisemitic, trivialising the Holocaust’s horrors while attacking Israel’s legitimacy. This fresh assault on historical memory reverberates sharply in Polish politics, threatening to deepen societal wounds at a fraught time.
