A global antisemitism organization has canceled a Holocaust Memorial Mission to Poland over the Warsaw government’s threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) had planned to bring leading academics to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp but has now canceled the trip.
The decision came in response to a statement by Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski saying his government is “obliged to respect the provisions of the International Criminal Court.”
In plain language, the Polish government says Israel’s head of state would be arrested were he to set foot on Polish soil to attend the ceremony – or for any other reason — due to a warrant for his arrest and that of former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The warrant was issued by the International Court over Israel’s actions in Gaza during the ongoing war launched against the Jewish State on October 7, 2023, by the enclave’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization.
ISGAP Executive Director Dr. Charles Asher Small minced no words in torching the Polish government over the announcement.
“For a Polish government official to threaten the arrest of the leader of the Jewish State at Auschwitz, the symbol of the Jewish People’s and humanity’s greatest tragedy, desecrates the sanctity of this solemn commemoration,” Small said.
“This move is politicized and provocative, and an insult to the memory of six million Jews murdered during the Shoah (Holocaust),” he added.
“This decision sends a dangerous message at a time when antisemitism is on the rise globally.”
Britain’s King Charles and other heads of state are expected to attend the January 27 event, set to be held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch will represent the Jewish State at the ceremony. A source in Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had not planned to attend the event in the first place.
