Publication date: 2024/12/20 (Last updated: 2024/12/20 15:58)
TEL AVIV – Ma’an – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not attend the commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp in Poland next January for fear of being arrested, the state Hebrew broadcaster announced on Friday.
The official added: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not travel to Poland to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz due to fear of being arrested based on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.”
On November 21, the International Criminal Court issued two international arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip starting October 7, 2023. Defense Minister Joav Galant was dismissed for the crime.
The agency cited Polish media reports as saying that Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski confirmed the country’s commitment to “respect the judgment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”
Officials said dozens of Polish heads of state were expected to take part in the celebrations, with Israel likely to be represented by Education Minister Joav Kisz.
He added: “This year, the Polish government is planning a larger-than-usual celebration to commemorate the liberation of the camp.”
The main celebration will be held on January 27 at the Auschwitz concentration camp established by the Nazi regime, authorities said.
Auschwitz is a complex of more than 40 concentration and extermination camps run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust.
Soviet troops entered the camp on January 27, 1945. This day has been recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day since 2005.
In 1947, Poland established the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum on the site of the Auschwitz I and II concentration camps, and in 1979 it was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
