A far-right Polish lawmaker sparked international outrage on Tuesday after displaying an altered Israeli flag featuring a Nazi swastika in place of the Star of David while accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza. The incident occurred on the same day as the March of the Living at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Konrad Berkowicz, a member of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) opposition party, made the inflammatory remarks during a speech in Poland’s Sejm, the lower house of parliament .
“Israel is committing genocide before our eyes with particular cruelty. Israel is the new Third Reich, and its flag should look exactly like this,” Berkowicz declared before unfurling the blue-and-white flag with the Nazi symbol at its center .
The lawmaker also made unverified claims about Israel’s military operations, alleging the use of white phosphorus munitions against civilians in Gaza. He described in graphic detail the effects of such weapons, claiming they caused the deaths of “tens of thousands of women and children” .
Immediate condemnation
The display drew swift condemnation from fellow parliamentarians, with several shouting “scandal” and demanding Berkowicz leave the podium . Deputy Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty immediately rebuked the lawmaker, stating that “displaying a swastika in the Polish Sejm is in no way justified” .
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned the act on social media, declaring 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” .
The parliament speaker announced he was preparing a motion to impose penalties on Berkowicz for “presenting Nazi symbols in the chamber.” Under Polish law, displaying Nazi symbols is a criminal offense .
International reaction
The Israeli embassy in Warsaw said it was “appalled” by the incident, calling it an “antisemitic horror” and demanding Polish authorities “act upon this disgrace” .
“As Holocaust Survivors march in Auschwitz today, this vile anti-Jewish act is especially appalling,” the embassy wrote in a statement on X .
The U.S. ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, who is an Orthodox Jew and had participated in the March of the Living earlier Tuesday, responded forcefully on social media.
“SHAME SHAME SHAME on YOU!! Maybe even you have noticed that we Jews aren’t so easy to push around anymore, are we?” Rose wrote on his personal X account .
A pattern of provocations
Berkowicz’s party, Confederation, has a history of provocative stunts targeting the Jewish community. Its leader, Grzegorz Braun, previously disrupted a Hanukkah ceremony in parliament by using a fire extinguisher to put out a menorah .
The incident came on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) and during the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the extermination camps built by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland, where approximately one million Jews were killed during World War II .
Some opposition lawmakers called for prosecutors to investigate Berkowicz, noting that Polish law criminalizes the promotion of Nazi symbols and incitement to hatred .
“Such actions constitute a blatant violation of the authority of the Sejm and the rules of parliamentary debate,” Czarzasty said in a statement. “This behavior is particularly outrageous on Yom Hashoah, which reminds us of the tragedy of millions of Jewish victims of German Nazism and obliges us to maintain the highest standards of responsibility in public life”
