Are they scared of Trump in Poland? Netanyahu is offered safe entry to a former Nazi concentration camp – World – News

The war in Ukraine and the bloody conflict in the Middle East will influence the list of main guests at the upcoming commemoration on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in the then-occupied Polish territory. The head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, will certainly be absent, and the arrival of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu is questionable. The reason? The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for both statesmen.



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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could travel to Poland without fear of being detained on the basis of an arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court. The commemoration of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz will take place on January 27.




While in the case of Putin it was absolutely clear that he would not receive an invitation, on the contrary, in the case of Netanyahu there are still uncertainties, while at first it seemed that even his participation was pointless. Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, 1945 by the Red Army. In the death factory, as they nicknamed this German camp, the Nazis murdered hundreds of thousands of deportees, most of whom were killed were Jews (approximately 1.1 million, including many who were dragged away from the wartime Slovak state). As for the (non)participation of the Israeli prime minister, it has an interesting development. The media paid close attention to her for the first time three weeks ago.

Ivan Pasternák: I don’t have the strength to go to Auschwitz, there is a suitcase with my father’s name on it

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Father Ivan Pasternák was dragged to Auschwitz, later to Dachau, where he died. “I don’t have the strength to go to Auschwitz, my friends told me that there is a suitcase with my father’s name on it.” Ivan Pasternák took part in the Holocaust Museum in Sered at the opening of the exhibition Holocaust: liquidation, liberation, rescue

Shortly before Christmas, the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita claimed that the office of the prime minister of the Jewish state had not expressed interest in his participation in Auschwitz. “They knew what Warsaw’s response would be.” What? Poland would have the obligation to arrest Netanyahu and extradite him to the court in The Hague. At the same time, the newspaper quoted the State Secretary of the Department of Polish Diplomacy, Wladislaw Bartoszewski, who, although not explicitly, but indirectly indicated clearly that the Israeli prime minister should to detain on an arrest warrant issued in November 2024 for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip: “We are committed to respecting the decisions of the International Criminal Court,” noted Bartoszewski, who is tasked with coordinating the preparations for the commemoration of the victims of Auschwitz.

The daily added that Foreign Minister Gideon Saar should represent Israel, saying that the arrival of President Yitzchak Herzog is not expected. Later, information appeared that even Saar will not come, the Minister of Education Yoav Kisch should attend.

But now there has been a significant shift. Polish President Andrzej Duda took care of it. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, he requested that the authorities guarantee Netanyahu an undisturbed stay in Poland in case he arrives to honor the victims of the Holocaust. He justified it by the exceptionality of the event on the occasion of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Tusk complied with Duda. “The Polish government will guarantee the safe participation of the leaders of Israel in the commemoration ceremonies on January 27, 2025 as part of paying respect to the Jewish people, whose millions of sons and daughters became victims of the Holocaust of the Third Reich,” the PAP agency quoted the prime minister as saying.

Duda and Tusk face domestic criticism that Warsaw is using a double standard. Those who would like to see the police arrest Netanyahu recall how Poland was outraged when Putin flew to visit Ulaanbaatar last September. Mongolia is also bound by the so-called The Rome Statute, which established the court in The Hague, but did not respect the arrest warrant for the head of the Kremlin. “We express our regret that the visit of the President of the Russian Federation took place in Mongolia in a situation where an arrest warrant has been issued for him by the International Criminal Court and Mongolia is a contracting party to the statute of this court. This visit undermines the international criminal justice system,” the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized in a statement at the time. The reality is that the signatories have an obligation to comply with the statute, but there are no law enforcement tools.

Both the president and the prime minister consider the approach to Netanyahu correct, while Tusk said that it was not an exclusive initiative of the head of state, but a coordinated approach by the leaders of the Republic of Poland. It cannot be ruled out that if the Israeli prime minister is really going to arrive, Warsaw did not want to get into a rift with Donald Trump, who will move into the White House in less than two weeks. “Netanyahu is one of the closest allies of Trump, who will take power in the USA on January 20,” publicist Jedrzej Bielecki pointed out according to Rzeczipospolita.

However, it is questionable whether these were really coordinated actions of the head of state and the prime minister. An unnamed source close to Dudu told the Wiadomosci server that the initiative clearly came from him: “The president believes that Tusk’s government is making a mistake by not inviting the Israeli prime minister. That is why there is a letter and a call addressed directly to the Prime Minister. Duda and his advisers have the same attitude towards Netanyahu as Trump.”

Let us recall that the future US president has long been considered a huge supporter of the Jewish state. He proved this already during his first term of office, when, for example, he decided to move the seat of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the international community still does not officially recognize as the capital of Israel.

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Archive video from September 2021 / Source: TV Pravda

By the way, it seems that Warsaw did not inform The Hague in advance how it intends to behave towards Netanyahu, should he arrive at the former Nazi concentration camp. It follows from the reaction of the International Criminal Court, published by the Wirtualna Polska server: “The Court relies on states to enforce its decisions. It is not only a legal obligation to the court under the Rome Statute, but also a responsibility to other contracting states. If states have concerns about cooperation with the court, they can consult with it in a timely and effective manner. However, states cannot unilaterally determine the validity of the court’s legal decisions.”

Source: spravy.pravda.sk