By Canadian Press

Polish government adopts resolution protecting Netanyahu from arrest if he attends Auschwitz event

Jan 9, 2025 | 11:03 AM

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government adopted a resolution on Thursday vowing to ensure the free and safe participation of the highest representatives of Israel — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who choose to attend commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau later this month.

Netanyahu became an internationally wanted suspect last year after the International Criminal Court, the world’s top war crimes court, issued an arrest warrant for him and others in connection with the war in Gaza, accusing them of crimes against humanity.

“The Polish government treats the safe participation of the leaders of Israel in the commemorations on January 27, 2025, as part of paying tribute to the Jewish nation, millions of whose daughters and sons became victims of the Holocaust carried out by the Third Reich,” read the resolution published by the office of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The government published the statement after Polish President Andrzej Duda asked Tusk to ensure that Netanyahu can attend without the risk of being arrested.

German forces occupied Poland at the start of World War II and set up a system of ghettos and death camps where they killed millions of Jews and others.

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There had been reports suggesting that the arrest warrant could prevent Netanyahu from traveling to Poland to attend observances marking the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet forces on Jan. 27.

Member countries of the ICC, such as Poland, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes its jurisdiction.

The court has more than 120 member states, though some countries, including France, have already said that they would not arrest him. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even said he would defy the warrant by inviting Netanyahu to Hungary.

It was not even clear if Netanyahu wanted to attend the event. The Polish Foreign Ministry said earlier Thursday that “it has not received any information so far indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.”

“Poland is a safe country and any leader visiting Poland is entitled to protection granted by the Ministry of the Interior,” it added. The ministry also suggested that any idea that Netanyahu could be arrested in Poland is “fake news” that spread in U.S. media.

The commemoration will be attended by international officials and elderly survivors. It is to take place in Oswiecim, a town that was under German occupation during the war.

More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz. Historians say that most of them, about a million, were Jewish, but the victims also included Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others.

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press