Poland says it will protect Benjamin Netanyahu from arrest on special grounds

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the Israeli Prime Minister will not be detained despite the ICC's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Polish President Andrzej Duda (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Conference on Peace and Security in the Middle East in Warsaw, on February 13, 2019. (Source: AFP)

The Polish government has passed a resolution promising that senior Israeli officials - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - can travel freely to Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp later this month.

Mr Netanyahu is facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes during the conflict in Gaza.

“The Polish government considers the safe participation of Israeli leaders in the commemoration of January 27, 2025, as part of its tribute to the Jewish people, millions of whose daughters and sons fell victim to the Holocaust committed by the Third Reich,” according to the resolution published by the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on January 9.

“Whether it is the prime minister, the president or a minister of Israel, anyone who comes to attend the commemorations at Auschwitz will be guaranteed safety and will not be detained,” Mr Tusk told reporters.

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense 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 condemned the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying they acted in self-defense against a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. As a member state of the ICC, Poland is obligated to detain suspects facing arrest warrants if they enter its territory. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes the court's jurisdiction.

On January 8, Bloomberg reported that Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote to Prime Minister Tusk asking that Netanyahu be allowed to attend the ceremony “without hindrance,” given the special nature of the event.

The head of the President's office Malgorzata Paprocka confirmed to state news agency PAP on January 9 that a letter had been sent.

“In the president's opinion, there is a problem – precisely because this is Auschwitz, every Israeli, every representative of the country's government must have the opportunity to participate in this special event,” she said.

Prime Minister Tusk, who signed the resolution, said he had received information from the Israeli embassy that the country would send its education minister.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has not said whether he will attend the Auschwitz memorial service, although he has attended in the past.

More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died in gas chambers or from hunger, cold and disease at Auschwitz, which the Nazis established in Poland during World War II.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ba-lan-tuyen-bo-se-bao-ve-ong-benjamin-netanyahu-khoi-nguy-co-bi-bat-giu-vi-ly-do-dac-biet-300331.html