“I reassure all officials, whether they are the prime minister, the president, or the minister – as it has been officially announced – of education in Israel, that whoever chooses to come to Oswiecim for the commemorative activities at Auschwitz will be guaranteed safety and will not face detention,” stated Tusk.
President Andrzej Duda had advocated for a special exemption to permit Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit Poland for the Auschwitz memorial ceremony, marking eight decades since Allied forces liberated the infamous death camp from German occupation on January 27, 1945. Duda had dispatched a letter to Tusk requesting an exemption for Netanyahu, who had attended the annual event on multiple occasions in the past, as confirmed by the Polish president’s office.
Duda emphasized the significance of the 80th Auschwitz memorial service, asserting that any Israeli representatives, especially those in leadership roles, should be able to participate without encountering legal impediments.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing conflict in Gaza. Israel vehemently rejected the indictment of its leader as an injustice, maintaining that its actions in the war against Hamas were justified acts of self-defense.
As a signatory to the United Nations treaty establishing the ICC, Poland is obliged to apprehend any individual with an outstanding warrant issued by the court upon their entry into Polish territory.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, dismissed speculations regarding the potential arrest of the Israeli leader, noting that Netanyahu was not anticipated to visit Europe in any case.
This issue arose against the backdrop of strained relations between Duda, Poland’s conservative, nationalist leader, and Tusk’s centrist, pro-European administration, inaugurated in December 2023.
In Poland, the president holds the highest office and possesses the authority to veto legislation proposed by the government, headed by the prime minister. Nonetheless, a presidential veto can be overridden by a three-fifths majority vote in the parliament.
Auschwitz, established by the Nazi regime in occupied Poland, stands as a poignant symbol of the atrocities of the Holocaust. Over 1.1 million individuals, predominantly Jews, perished through forced labor, malnutrition, illness, and mass exterminations in gas chambers at Auschwitz prior to its liberation. Poland’s Jewish community suffered immense losses, with over three million Jews killed during World War II, constituting nearly half of all Holocaust victims.
The annual ceremonies commemorating the liberation of the death camp serve as somber reminders of the atrocities committed in Europe eight decades ago.
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