ISLAMABAD: Poland has threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attends next month’s ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland.
The EU member country’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, told a Polish newspaper that Poland was obliged to comply with the directives of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Warsaw’s top diplomat was quoted as saying that Poland is a signatory to the Rome Statute and it must act as per its provisions.
Simultaneously, Haaretz – a relatively liberal Israeli newspaper – reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu will not attend next month’s ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland.
It also cited concerns that he could be arrested due to the warrant issued against him by the ICC last month.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to be the only government representative at the Auschwitz commemoration.
The participation of President Isaac Herzog “seems unlikely,” it claimed.
While all 27 European Union member states are parties to the Rome Statute and thus required to enforce ICC arrest warrants, responses to the court’s decision have varied.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has openly invited Netanyahu to visit, assuring him that Hungary would not enforce the arrest warrant, according to Russian state television Russia Today.
ICC verdict
Last month, the Hague-based court issued warrants for the arrests of Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes related to the Jewish state’s brutal war on Gaza.
ICC accused the Israeli state of using starvation as a method of warfare, alleging they deliberately deprived civilians in Gaza of food, water, and medicine.
There was “no obvious military necessity” for such actions, which amount to violations of international law, according to prosecutors.
