The Polish government has vowed to allow Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freely visit the nation for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenhau, in spite of an outstanding war crimes warrant.
Polish media reported last month that Netanyahu would not attend the ceremony at the site of the largest concentration camp built by the Nazis on January 27 out of fear he would be detained and hauled in front of the International Criminal Court.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the country’s parliament in a speech today that ‘the safety of whoever comes to the ceremony will be guaranteed and they will not be arrested.’
He added that ‘for obvious reasons, this applies especially to representatives of the State of Israel, who are, of course, more interested than anyone else in these ceremonies.’
The Polish government said it ‘sees ensuring the safe participation of Israeli leaders in the ceremonies on January 27, 2025 as part of showing respect for the Jewish nation, whose millions of daughters and sons because victims of the Holocaust carried out by the Third Reich.’
Netanyahu and Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant are both wanted by the ICC for war crimes allegedly committed during their nation’s brutal war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after the court issued the warrants in November.
The court also issued a warrant for Hamas commander, Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in July.
The court said at the time that both Netanyahu and Gallant both ‘bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Polish media reported last month that Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) would not attend the ceremony on January 27 out of fear he would be detained and hauled in front of the International Criminal Court
The Polish government has vowed to allow Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freely visit the nation for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenhau (File image of the concentration camp)
Netanyahu and Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant are both wanted by the ICC for war crimes allegedly committed during their nation’s brutal war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip (pictured)
‘The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population’, it added.
‘Reasonable grounds to believe exist that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, despite having measures available to them to prevent or repress the commission of crimes or ensure the submittal of the matter to the competent authorities, failed to do so.’
All 124 nations party to the ICC, which includes the UK, are obliged to arrest and extradite those wanted by the court.
Since the warrant was issued, several nations including the UK, France and the Netherlands have said they will comply with them.
But other nations like the US said they would not act on the warrant.
US president Joe Biden said at the time that it was ‘outrageous’ for the court to issue it.
‘Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security’, he sternly said.
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