WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government adopted a resolution Thursday vowing to ensure the free and safe participation of top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wish to attend commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau later this month.
Netanyahu became an internationally wanted suspect last year after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him and others in connection with the war in Gaza, accusing them of crimes against humanity. The Polish government is committed to honoring the Jewish nation, millions of whose daughters and sons became victims of the Holocaust carried out by the Third Reich.
The resolution was published after Polish President Andrzej Duda asked Prime Minister Donald Tusk to ensure that Netanyahu can attend without the risk of being arrested. The commemorations will be held on January 27, 2025, in Oswiecim, a town that was under German occupation during the war.
More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, with the majority, about a million, being Jewish, but the victims also included Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others. The commemoration will be attended by international officials and elderly survivors.
Poland’s government is treating the safe participation of Israeli leaders as a matter of great importance, and has assured that any leader visiting Poland is entitled to protection granted by the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry also dismissed the idea that Netanyahu could be arrested in Poland as “fake news” that spread in U.S. media.