Poland could arrest Benjamin Netanyahu at Auschwitz under ICC arrest warrants

Nearly five years ago, when preparations were underway to hold a major event in Jerusalem on January 20, 2020, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitzdozens of world leaders were expected. PolandPresident Andrzej Duda, however, announced that he would not attend as he would not be allowed to speak at the event.

Instead, keynote speeches were to be delivered by then-US Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

For Duda, the decision to prevent him from speaking was more than a diplomatic affront: it was, he said, “a distortion of the historical truth”, denying him the opportunity to honor the Polish citizens who perished during the ‘Holocaust.

This sensitivity to “historical truth” raises questions about how Duda might perceive a potential scenario unfolding today: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unable to travel to Poland and Auschwitz for an event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp on January 27 because Poland said it would honor an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC ) against him for alleged war crimes arising from the events of October 7. war.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski told a Polish newspaper on Friday that Netanyahu would indeed be arrested if he came to the ceremony. Think about it: Poland, on whose soil millions of Jews were killed, would arrest the head of the Jewish state for taking steps to protect the country from those who sought to destroy it. And this is based on an arrest warrant issued by a court that has no jurisdiction over Israel.

Auschwitz (credit: REUTERS)

Talk about a distortion of the truth – both past and present.

Auschwitz is the ultimate symbol of anti-Semitism, where 1.1 million people were murdered, including a million Jews. Arresting Netanyahu under an ICC arrest warrant – a move widely seen in Israel as anti-Semitic due to its double standards and bias – would send an unacceptable message. It is almost inconceivable that Poland would implement such a decree, especially during an event commemorating the largest hate crime against Jews in history.

The moral bankruptcy here would be astonishing.

Making noise for noise’s sake?

At this stage, however, it is important to note that this scenario remains hypothetical. Netanyahu has never announced plans to attend the event – it was Poland’s deputy foreign minister who floated the idea in a newspaper interview – and it is unclear whether the prime minister would attend even if the ICC case was not a factor.

The natural candidate to represent Israel at such a ceremony would be President Isaac Herzog. Indeed, five years ago, a week after the Jerusalem event, then-President Reuven Rivlin represented Israel at a 75th anniversary commemoration held at Auschwitz. Herzog himself visited Poland two years ago to mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

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Ties between Israel and Poland have been strained in recent years, making Israeli representation at such events more complex.

Once strong, ties deteriorated in 2018 when Poland introduced legislation criminalizing suggestions that Poles were complicit in the Holocaust and making the term “Polish death camps” a punishable crime.

A year later, during a trip to Poland, Netanyahu infuriated Poles when he was wrongly quoted as saying that “the Poles” had collaborated with the Nazis, rather than that the “Poles” – under hearing “some Poles” – had collaborated with them. As a result, then-Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki canceled a trip to Israel to attend a high-level summit.

Two days later, Israel Katz, who had just become foreign minister, further exacerbated the crisis by declaring of the brouhaha: “I am the child of Holocaust survivors and, like every Israeli and Jew, I will not compromise on the issue. memory of the Holocaust. We will neither forgive nor forget, and many Poles collaborated with the Nazis. As Yitzhak Shamir said – they killed his father – “the Poles imbibe anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk”.

Relations deteriorated further in 2021 when then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid recalled Israel’s envoy to Poland over Polish legislation limiting restitution requests for Holocaust victims . Lapid called the law “anti-Semitic and unethical” and said: “Poland has become an anti-democratic and illiberal country that does not honor the greatest tragedy in human history. »

Poland responded by recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv. Although Israel’s envoy returned to Poland a year later, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Poland only returned an ambassador to Israel last month.

In other words, while ties return to normal, the current scenario risks reigniting tensions.

This situation also has implications beyond relations between Israel and Poland.

If Poland were to follow through on the ICC arrest warrant, it could strain its ties with the United States, particularly with a Republican administration about to take office. US Senator Lindsey Graham recently indicated that he was working on legislation to penalize countries that implement ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials. Poland’s alignment with the ICC could be seen in Washington as an alignment against Israel, an outcome that could complicate its position with its main ally.

If it turns out that Poland would indeed honor the ICC mandate if Netanyahu visited the country – rather than granting him diplomatic immunity as France has said it would if the prime minister does returned – then Israel should not send anyone to Poland. the ceremony. This would underline the absurdity of the situation.

“Auschwitz and Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said at the Jerusalem event in 2020. “An abyss and a summit. Auschwitz, extermination; Jerusalem, awakening. Auschwitz, slavery; Jerusalem, freedom. Auschwitz, death; Jerusalem, life.

Auschwitz, he continues, “is also the ultimate symbol of Jewish powerlessness. This is the culmination of what can happen when our people have no voice, no land, no shield.

“Today we have a voice, we have a land and we have a shield. Today, our voice is heard in the White House and the Kremlin, in the halls of the United Nations and the US Congress, in London, Paris and Berlin, and in countless capitals around the world. »

However, if Poland seriously considered arresting Netanyahu, it would mean the Israeli leader would have no voice at an event commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz. The irony of such a situation would be staggering, as it would undermine the very purpose of commemoration and highlight how historical truth and current truth – in Orwellian fashion – have been subverted.