Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not planning to come to Poland for the Auschwitz liberation commemoration but Polish PM Donald Tusk has taken a U-turn over allowing him security to do so after intense criticism from President Duda, Israelis and Trump supporters. EPA-EFE/MAYA ALLERUZZO / POOL POOL PHOTO

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Polish PM Tusk ‘guarantees Netanyahu safety to visit Auschwitz’

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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has pledged that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be arrested if he chose to attend the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in southern Poland.

Tusk’s guarantee on January 9 came despite an international arrest warrant for Nethanyhu issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC on November 21 last year issued warrants for the detention of both Netanyahu and the former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes related to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

The Polish PM added, though, that as far as he was aware, the Israelis would be represented by their education minister at the January 27 event.

Tusk told reporters his government was committed to ensuring a secure and respectful environment for all attendees at the ceremony, particularly Israeli officials.

“Whether it will be the Prime Minister, or the President of the State of Israel, whoever comes to Auschwitz will be assured of security and will not be detained,” he said.

Tusk added that he found it incomprehensible “that the political leaders of the State of Israel cannot safely participate in the commemoration of Auschwitz’s liberation”.

“This is not acceptable at all.”

His remarks signalled a shift from Poland’s earlier stance on the ICC’s arrest warrant. In December of last year, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski had said Poland was bound by the ICC’s legal framework and could not make an exception for Netanyahu.

On January 8, Polish President Andrzej Duda issued a statement urging Tusk to ensure that the Israeli leader could attend the Auschwitz event “unhindered”. 

Tusk described Duda’s letter as a “political demonstration” by the opposition Conservative PiS-aligned head of state. He noted that, according to the Israeli embassy, the country was to  be represented by its education minister instead of Netanyahu. 

On January 9, the government adopted a resolution ensuring safe passage for all attendees without referring directly to the ICC warrant. 

Tusk’s decision came after a storm of criticism against Poland for initially denying Netanyahu safe passage.

Israel’s special envoy for combating anti-Semitism, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, slammed the European country’s original refusal.

He said it had missed “the most important moment to say ‘never again’ in the 80-year commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz” and to stand with Israel “in response to the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust”.

Conservative media outlets and commentators had also criticised Poland and called on Warsaw to grant Netanyahu safe passage. An opinion piece published on January 7 in National Review warned that the issue could harm Poland’s relations with the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump

As a signatory to the Rome Statute of the ICC, Poland has legal obligations to comply with the court’s arrest warrants. It has backed the ICC arrest warrant against Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

Auschwitz-Birkenau was a German Nazi death camp where more than 1.1 million people, predominantly Jews, were exterminated during the Second World War.