Hanukkah candles put out by far-right Polish MP using fire extinguisher

In Poland's parliament, a far-right MP interrupted a vote of confidence in the new government by putting out the candles on a menorah that was lit for Hanukkah.

Television footage showed fringe far-right MP Grzegorz Braun spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. There was haze everywhere. Braun was suspended for the rest of the day after the parliament took a break to address the incident.

Donald Tusk whose new administration won a vote of confidence on Tuesday had earlier given a keynote address to parliament detailing his goals for office. He called the incident "a disgrace."

“This is unacceptable. This can’t happen again,” he said.

For the past 17 years, Rabbi Sholom Ber Stambler has been lighting the menorah in parliament. He called Braun “an antisemite who wanted to attract attention,” but he also suggested that the stunt had the opposite impact from what was intended, the Guardian reported.

“I’ve had so many phone calls and messages from Polish MPs, people who live in Poland; everyone sends me so much solidarity and care, feeling sorry and apologising for this,” said Ber Stambler in a telephone interview.

Braun's attack, according to Ber Stambler, happened when he was in the next room, but his children were still near the menorah and got foam from the fire extinguisher in their mouths.

“He wanted to destroy a very uplifting atmosphere of tolerance and freedom of religion,” said Ber Stambler, who is from the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. “We’ve been doing it for 17 years, and … every time it was easy to arrange and MPs from different parties would join and respect,” he said.

Asked just after the incident if he was ashamed, Braun replied to queries asking if he was ashamed saying, “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed.” Shaking hands with other far-right lawmakers, he left the room.

Szymon Hołownia, the parliament's speaker, condemned Braun's behaviour.

“There will be no tolerance for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism … as long as I am the speaker of parliament,” Hołownia told reporters.

Yacov Livne, Israel’s ambassador to Poland, posted on X: “SHAME. A Polish parliament member just did this. Few minutes after we celebrated Chanukah there.”

Mark Brzezinski, the US ambassador to Poland took to X to condemn the attack, “Poland has experienced the atrocities of the Holocaust, and this disgusting act of hatred reminds us all why we must remain vigilant and fight anti-Semitism every minute of every day,” he wrote.

In a statement, the Catholic church expressed shame over Braun's behaviour. "I apologise to the entire Jewish community in Poland," he penned.

Braun, a far-right Confederation party member who supports Russia, has previously falsely said that there is a scheme to make Poland into "a Jewish state." He disrupted a scheduled presentation earlier this year by Holocaust expert Jan Grabowski, who has studied cases of Polish culpability in the Holocaust.

Braun was described by Ber Stambler as "antisemitic but also anti-Polish" since he had interfered with a crucial political day—the swearing-in of the new government. “It was very important for me to relight the menorah after, which I did,” he added.