Polish President Urges Government Not to Arrest Netanyahu if He Attends Event in Poland

A senior aide to the Polish president stated on Thursday that the president had requested the government ensure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not fear being arrested under an International Criminal Court warrant if he decided to attend the 80th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri (known as Mohammed Deif), on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Polish President Andrzej Duda had sent a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk urging that Poland ensure Netanyahu could attend the Auschwitz commemoration on January 27 “without obstacles” due to the event’s exceptional nature.

Duda’s chief of staff confirmed to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Thursday that the president had sent this letter.

She stated, “In the president’s view, there is one issue: because this concerns Auschwitz, the opportunity to participate in this extraordinary event should be available to anyone from Israel and any representative of that country’s authorities.”

She added that Duda is awaiting a response. Tusk’s office did not respond to a request for comment sent via email.

When asked by the state-owned TVP Info news channel whether Netanyahu could rely on Poland guaranteeing he wouldn’t be arrested, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Jawkowski responded, “This is not an issue, as Mr. Netanyahu will not come to Europe.”

A spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment. Netanyahu has not stated whether he will attend the event, although he has participated in previous Auschwitz commemorations.

More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, died in gas chambers or from starvation, cold, and disease at Auschwitz, which was established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II.

It is believed that the Nazis killed more than 3 million of Poland’s 3.2 million Jews, representing roughly half of the Jews killed during the Holocaust.