The Polish president wants ICC indictee Netanyahu to be able to attend the anniversary of Auschwitz, an aide told Reuters

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s president has asked the government to ensure that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can choose to attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz without fear of arrest under an ICC warrant, a senior aide said on Thursday.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, as well as Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group.

Israel condemned the warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant, saying he acted in self-defense in its air and ground war in Gaza triggered by Hamas’ cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that President Andrzej Duda wrote to Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying Poland should ensure that Netanyahu can “unimpededly” attend the Auschwitz commemoration on January 27 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 such a 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 that Duda was waiting for an answer. Tusk’s office did not respond to an email request for comment.

Duda is a right-wing nationalist who has had strained relations with Tusk’s centrist, pro-European government since it took office in December 2023.

When asked by the state news channel TVP Info whether Netanyahu can count on Poland’s guarantee that he will not be arrested, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said: “There is no such topic, because Mr. Netanyahu is not coming to Europe.”

Netanyahu’s spokesman, like Duda on the hard right of the political spectrum, declined to comment. 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, perished in gas chambers or from hunger, cold and disease at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany placed in occupied Poland during World War II.

More than three million of Poland’s 3.2 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, accounting for roughly half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust.