Poland says it will protect Benjamin Netanyahu from potential arrest

In accordance with a resolution, the Polish government has authorized senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to visit Poland for the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp’s liberation later this month.

Netanyahu is accused of committing war crimes against Israel in the Gaza Strip and is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Polish government pays homage to the Jewish people, millions of whose daughters and sons were victims of the Third Reich’s Holocaust, by publishing a resolution published by the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday.

Who will travel to Oswiecim for the celebrations in Auschwitz will be assured of safety and won’t be detained, according to Tusk, according to Tusk, according to Tusk. “Regardless of whether it is the prime minister, the president, or the minister of education of Israel, as it is currently declared,”

In November, the ICC issued&nbsp, arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas commander Ibrahim a-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has condemned the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying that it has acted in self-defence triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Poland is a member state of the ICC, but the court has no way to enforce that. It is also required to detain suspects who enter their country. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes its jurisdiction.

Unclear if Netanyahu will attend

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Poland’s President Andrzej Duda wrote to Tusk asking that Netanyahu be allowed to attend the commemoration “unhindered”, given the event’s exceptional nature.

Malgorzata Paprocka, the head of Duda’s office, confirmed to state news agency PAP on Thursday that a letter had been sent.

“In the opinion of the president, there is one issue – precisely because it is the&nbsp, Auschwitz&nbsp, camp, every person from&nbsp, Israel, every representative of the authorities of this country should have the opportunity to take part in this exceptional event”, she said.

The Israeli embassy had provided him with information that the country would be represented by its education minister, according to Prime Minister Tusk, who signed the resolution.

Netanyahu has not indicated whether he will attend the Auschwitz memorial. He has attended Auschwitz-related memorials in the past.