Poland clears Israel's Netanyahu to visit for Auschwitz memorial despite war crimes indictment
Berlin — Poland's government adopted a resolution on Thursday that would enable Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend events in the country later this month to mark 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp without facing the risk of arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant. It was presented as a largely symbolic policy, as Netanyahu is not expected to attend the event.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the move by his government, which doesn't refer directly to Netanyahu or the ICC arrest warrant against him, but rather issues a blanket guarantee of security to all senior Israeli officials to attend the Auschwitz memorial service.
Tusk told reporters Thursday that, per information from the Israeli embassy in Warsaw, Israel plans to send its education minister to represent the nation at the 80th commemoration of the Auschwitz liberation, so the resolution could be considered a "political demonstration."
"I confirm, whether it is the prime minister, the president or the minister — as it is currently declared — of education of Israel, whoever will come to Oswiecim for the celebrations in Auschwitz will be assured of safety and will not be detained," Tusk said.
President Andrzej Duda had called for a special exemption to let Netanyahu visit Poland for the Auschwitz memorial service, which will take place eight decades after Allied forces seized the notorious death camp from German troops and liberated the surviving prisoners on January 27, 1945. Duda had sent a letter to Tusk urging an exemption for Netanyahu, who's attend the annual event several times previously, according to a statement confirmed by the Polish president's office.
Duda highlighted the significance of the 80th Auschwitz memorial service, saying any representatives from Israel, particularly those in leadership positions, should be able to participate without legal obstacles.
The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed.
Israel's government has vociferously rejected the indictment of its leader as a miscarriage of justice, insisting that it has remained within its rights to self-defense in carrying out the war against Hamas.
As a signatory nation to the United Nations treaty that established the ICC, Poland is obligated to detain any individual with an outstanding warrant issued by the court if they enter its territory.
Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski had already dismissed speculation about any potential arrest of the Israeli leader, saying Netanyahu was not expected to visit Europe anyway.
The issue came up amid strained relations between Duda, Poland's conservative, nationalist leader, and Tusk's centrist, pro-European administration, which took office in December 2023.
In Poland, the president is the country's top official, and the person in the role has the power to veto legislation brought by the government, which is led by the prime minister, but a presidential veto can be overruled by a three-fifths majority vote in the parliament.
Auschwitz, constructed by the Nazi regime in occupied Poland, became a powerful symbol of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
More than 1.1 million people, primarily Jews, were killed through forced labor, starvation, disease and mass executions in gas chambers at Auschwitz before it was liberated. Poland's Jewish population was decimated, with more than three million killed during World War II, accounting for nearly half of all Holocaust victims.
The annual events marking the liberation of the death camp are intended to remind the world of the horrors carried out in Europe eight decades ago.
