Poland’s president wants Netanyahu to be allowed to visit the Auschwitz memorial despite being indicted by the ICC for war crimes.

Berlin – Polish President Andrzej Duda has asked for a special release to allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend events in that country marking 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, without facing the risk of arrest under the warrant of the International Criminal Court. Poland will host a memorial service eighty years after the Allied forces captured the infamous camp from German forces and freed the surviving prisoners on January 27, 1945.

Duda sent a letter to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asking for his release from Netanyahu, who has not yet said whether he wishes to attend the annual event, as he has done many times before, according to a statement confirmed by the head of the Polish presidency, Malgorzata Paprocka.

Duda highlighted the importance of the 80s Auschwitz memorial servicestating that any representatives from Israel, especially those in leadership positions, should be able to participate without legal obstacles.

The ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu’s arrest in Novemberformer Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel and the subsequent Gaza war.

The Israeli government has denied that its leader has been charged as a miscarriage of justice, insisting that it stands by its right to defend itself in the war against Hamas.

As a signatory to the United Nations treaty that established the ICC, Poland is responsible for arresting any person with a warrant issued by the court who enters its territory.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski dismissed speculation about any arrests, saying Netanyahu was not expected to visit Europe.

Neither Tusk nor the Israeli government has made a public comment on the matter.

The issue comes amid strained relations between Duda, the Polish nationalist leader, and Tusk, the pro-European leader, who took office in December 2023. In Poland, the president is the country’s chief executive, and the incumbent has the power to vote on legislation introduced by the government, led by the prime minister, but a presidential vote can be overridden by a three-fifths majority vote in parliament.

Auschwitz, built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, became a powerful symbol of atrocities. the Holocaust.

More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed by forced labor, starvation, disease and mass murder in the gas chambers of Auschwitz before it was liberated. The number of Polish Jews was reduced, more than three million were killed during World War II, which was almost half of all the victims of the Holocaust.

The annual events marking the liberation of the death camp are meant to remind the world of the horrors committed in Europe eighty years ago.

Duda was waiting for an official response from Tusk regarding Netanyahu’s requested assurances, if he wishes to attend the memorial, which is a major international event that often attracts world leaders and Holocaust survivors to honor the memory of those who were tortured by the Nazis.