Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski stated that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to visit Poland, he would be arrested in accordance with the country’s commitment to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is due to Netanyahu being charged by the ICC in November, along with former defense minister Yoav Gallant, for a series of crimes. As a signatory to the Rome Statute, Poland is legally required to comply with ICC arrest warrants.
The arrest warrant for Netanyahu is part of preparations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, set to take place on January 27. However, Israeli officials have declined to confirm whether Netanyahu would be permitted to attend the event, and President Isaac Herzog’s participation also seems unlikely. Education Minister Yoav Kisch will be the only Israeli government representative attending the anniversary.
Polish sources claim that Warsaw is enforcing the warrants due to its wish to see Russian President Vladimir Putin stand before the court, as the ICC issued a warrant for Putin in 2022 over the kidnapping of Ukrainian children from occupied Ukraine.
The compliance with ICC arrest warrants is not unique to Poland. All 27 European Union states, including France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, and Slovenia, have confirmed they would arrest Netanyahu regardless of diplomatic immunity. Hungary is the only EU state that has said Netanyahu would not be arrested if he visited, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban inviting Netanyahu to his country.