Amid criticism of Poland Holocaust deal, PM says he’ll "listen to historians"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday responded to a storm of accusations that he was whitewashing Holocaust history over an agreement he signed with Poland, and said he would “listen… to the historians” and speak out accordingly.

Speaking at the opening of Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu for the first time addressed the controversy which has seen him rebuked by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center as well as politicians from across the spectrum, saying that he had heard the criticisms and would work to address them.

The joint declaration, signed simultaneously on June 27 by Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, ended a diplomatic standoff over a Polish law that made it a criminal offense to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the extermination of Jews during World War II.