Poland says it will protect Benjamin Netanyahu from potential arrest | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the Israeli prime minister will not be detained despite the ICC’s arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Polish government has passed a resolution promising that senior Israeli officials – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – can travel freely to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp later this month.
Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“The Polish government considers the participation of the leader of Israel in the commemorations on January 27, 2025 as part of honoring the Jewish nation, whose millions of daughters and sons became victims of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Third Reich,” said a resolution published by the Polish Prime Minister’s office on Thursday Donald Tusk.
Tusk told reporters that “whether it is the prime minister, the president or the minister of – as it is currently said – education of Israel, whoever comes to Oswiecim for the celebration in Auschwitz will be provided with security and will not be detained. “
In November, the ICC announced warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas commander Ibrahim a-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel condemned the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying they acted in self-defense initiated by Hamas Attack on October 7, 2023 on Israel.
As a member state of the ICC, Poland is required to detain suspects facing warrants if they enter its soil, but the court has no way of enforcing this. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes its jurisdiction.
It is not clear if Netanyahu will attend
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote to Tusk asking that Netanyahu be allowed to attend the commemoration “unhindered,” given the exceptional nature of the event.
Malgorzata Paprocka, the head of Duda’s office, confirmed on Thursday to the state news agency PAP that the letter had been sent.
“In the opinion of the president, there is one question – precisely because the camp is Auschwitz, every person from Israel, every representative of the authorities of this country should have the opportunity to participate in this exceptional event,” she said.
Prime Minister Tusk, who signed the resolution, said he had received information from the Israeli embassy that the country would be represented by its education minister.
Netanyahu has not said whether he will attend the commemoration at Auschwitz. He attended previous anniversary events in Auschwitz.
Over 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died in gas chambers or from starvation, cold and disease at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War II.
