Netanyahu will not attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not visit Poland to participate in an event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, due to a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on December 22.

"We are obliged to respect the decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague," the publication quotes Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, responsible for coordinating the January 27 ceremony.

According to the newspaper, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar may attend the ceremony instead of Netanyahu. The 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was attended by former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, this year his successor Yitzhak Herzog is unlikely to come to Poland, also said in the material.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on November 21. According to the assessment of the institution, they are responsible for war crimes against civilians. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Estonia expressed their readiness to fulfill this order, while the United States and France opposed it.

On December 5, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Sheyna said that the country was ready to execute the ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister.

In 2005, the UN General Assembly signed a resolution on the creation of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. Its date was set as January 27. On this day in 1945, the Red Army liberated the concentration camp Auschwitz (German name - Auschwitz), located on Polish territory. During its operation, more than 1.1 million people were killed there, including about 1 million Jews.