Poland’s president wants Netanyahu cleared to visit for Auschwitz memorial despite ICC war crimes indictment

Berlin — Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has called for a special exemption to let Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend events in the country marking 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, without facing the risk of arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant. Poland will host a memorial service eight decades after Allied forces seized the notorious camp from German troops and liberated the surviving prisoners on January 27, 1945.

Duda sent a letter to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk urging an exemption for Netanyahu, who has not said whether he wishes to attend the annual event, as he’s done several times previously, according to a statement confirmed by the head of the Polish president’s office, Malgorzata Paprocka.

Duda highlighted the significance of the 80th Auschwitz memorial service, saying any representatives from Israel, particularly those in leadership positions, should be able to participate without legal obstacles.

The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed.

Israel’s government has vociferously rejected the indictment of its leader as a miscarriage of justice, insisting that it has remained within its rights to self-defense in carrying out the war against Hamas.

As a signatory nation to the United Nations treaty that established the ICC, Poland is obligated to detain any individual with an outstanding warrant issued by the court if they enter its territory.

Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski dismissed speculation about any potential arrest, saying Netanyahu was not expected to visit Europe.

Neither Tusk’s government nor Israel’s have issued any public comments on the matter.

The issue comes amid strained relations between Duda, Poland’s conservative, nationalist leader, and Tusk’s centrist, pro-European administration, which took office in December 2023. In Poland, the president is the country’s top official, and the person in the role has the power to veto legislation brought by the government, which is led by the prime minister, but a presidential veto can be overruled by a three-fifths majority vote in the parliament.

Auschwitz, constructed by the Nazi regime in occupied Poland, became a powerful symbol of the atrocities of the Holocaust.

More than 1.1 million people, primarily Jews, were killed through forced labor, starvation, disease and mass executions in gas chambers at Auschwitz before it was liberated. Poland’s Jewish population was decimated, with more than three million killed during World War II, accounting for nearly half of all Holocaust victims.

The annual events marking the liberation of the death camp are intended to remind the world of the horrors carried out in Europe eight decades ago.

Duda was awaiting a formal response from Tusk regarding the requested guarantees for Netanyahu, should he wish to attend the memorial, which is a major international event that typically draws world leaders and Holocaust survivors to honor the memory of those who suffered Nazi atrocities.