A SUMMIT of Central European leaders in Israel has been canceled after Israeli officials sparked outrage by accusing Poland of complicity during the Holocaust.

Poland pulled out of the summit Monday in protest over remarks made by acting Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who said Sunday that Poles had “collaborated with the Nazis” during World War II and “suckle anti-semitism with their mother’s milk.”

Katz’s remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a conversation with Israeli reporters last week at the end of a two-day visit to Warsaw, said that Poles had cooperated with the Nazis during the Holocaust.

On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described Katz’s remarks as “racist and unacceptable.” “Not only can we not accept such racist comments, but with all our strength we want to stress that we will fight for historical truth, for the honor of Poles,” he told reporters.

The cancellation of the summit was a setback for Netanyahu, who was due to host the first meeting of the Visegrad nations — Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — outside Europe.

The Visegrad group was formed in the 1990s to bolster military, economic and cultural ties among the four countries as they emerged from decades as satellite states of the former Soviet Union.  (SD-Agencies)