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A spokeswoman for Poland's prime minister has sought to downplay his words equating Polish collaborators in the Holocaust to alleged "Jewish perpetrators" by saying they were an invitation to a frank debate about the World War II crimes against Jews.

Israeli politicians have accused Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of anti-Semitism following his remarks Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, setting off a new chapter in an angry dispute over Poland's new law banning some Holocaust speech.

Morawiecki spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska said Sunday that his words "should be interpreted as a sincere call for open discussion of crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust, regardless of the nationality of those involved."

The statement in Polish and English said Morawiecki's comments were "by no means intended to deny the Holocaust."