Former ICC head slams Poland’s decision to protect Israel’s Netanyahu from arrest warrant

The former Polish President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Thursday, slammed Warsaw’s decision to protect Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, from the Court’s arrest warrant should he decides to attend a commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking to Polish news outlet, Onet, Piotr Hofmanski said: “I don’t know much about politics, but from a legal point of view, the matter is crystal clear. There’s an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel on suspicion of committing war crimes, and states are obliged to execute it.”

“The Polish government’s decision is a purely political decision, the government is clearly ignoring its legal obligations,” he added.

“There is a legal and international obligation to fully cooperate with the ICC, and a state that does not fulfil this obligation puts itself in a very uncomfortable situation, and its international position becomes drastically limited,” he argued.

“This calls into question the very purpose of the ICC’s existence if states refuse to comply with its obligations,” he said.

On Thursday, President Andrzej Duda asked the government to ensure that Netanyahu can take part in the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp without fear of arrest over war crimes in Gaza.

Later, the Polish Cabinet adopted a resolution ensuring Israeli officials’ safe participation in the ceremony to be held at the notorious Nazi concentration camp.

The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Since 7 October, 2023, the Israeli army has pursued a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 46,000 people, most of them women and children, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

READ: Int’l fugitive Netanyahu to receive Polish immunity despite war crimes charges