OPINION:
Dear Your Excellency, Radosław Sikorski, foreign minister of the Republic of Poland:
Or do you mind if I call you Radek?
We don’t know each other well, but we’ve met, and you’ve been a guest on my “Foreign Podicy” podcast.
So I’m going to be informal. And I’m going to ask you a few questions.
To wit: What the hell are you thinking?
You know what I’m talking about.
On Jan. 27, there will be a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where roughly 1 million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis.
Your deputy foreign minister said last week that if Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, shows up, he’ll be arrested for alleged “crimes against humanity” pursuant to a warrant issued in November by the International Criminal Court, or ICC.
Seriously?
Look, Radek, you’re a smart guy, but you’re not seeing the big picture.
Right now, two free nations are fighting brutal defensive wars.
As you well know, Vladimir Putin wants to make Ukrainians subjects of the Russian empire, which for several decades was disingenuously rebranded as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The other free nation under attack is, of course, Israel. Iran’s ruler, Ali Khamenei, wants to exterminate Israelis and fold their land into an Islamic empire disingenuously branded as the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Two months ago, Mr. Putin and Mr. Khamenei announced their intention to sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” meaning closer military cooperation with Tehran — meaning Iran sending Russia more Iranian drones and missiles to kill Ukrainian men, women and children.
In October, the Israeli military knocked out much of Iran’s missile production facilities, limiting the supply that will be available to Mr. Putin.
For that, might you want to give Mr. Netanyahu a pat on the back rather than a slap in the face?
Now, let’s get political. The incoming Trump administration will be the most pro-Israel in history — the same of the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
European animus toward Israel is among the reasons some Republicans are advising President-elect Donald Trump to leave it to the European Union to save Ukraine — or not.
Of course, you understand that if Mr. Putin prevails in Ukraine, his troops and tanks will soon be on your border — and maybe making tracks over your border.
Under Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, the U.S. would be committed to assisting in your country’s defense. Do you think Mr. Putin won’t test the strength of that commitment?
I suspect you will repeat what your deputy said: “We are obliged to respect the provisions of the International Criminal Court.”
Here are three reasons you’re not obliged.
One: The arrest warrants against Mr. Netanyahu were issued by ICC prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan based on disinformation he was only too happy to receive from Hamas and other terrorist proxies of Iran.
Two: For the ICC to issue warrants against the leader of a nation that is not a member of the ICC — such as Israel — violates the treaty under which the ICC was established. So the ICC’s warrants represent an illegal usurpation of power.
Three: Mike Waltz, Mr. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, pointed out: “First it’s the leaders of Israel’s democracy, then it’s the leader of any democracy that doesn’t fit the ICC’s agenda.”
In fact, the ICC already has an open investigation of the U.S. — even though the U.S. has also declined to join.
So you’re really saying that Poland is “obliged to respect” the ICC but not the U.S. Do you think that’s wise?
Let me remind you that in his first term, Mr. Trump issued an executive order threatening sanctions against anyone participating in ICC investigations or arrests of Americans, Israelis and others who do not recognize the ICC’s authority.
President Biden rescinded that order. I’ll bet you a zloty it will be revived next year.
Finally, do you not grasp that the Israelis are doing what is necessary to deter and hopefully defeat their enemies?
Isn’t that what you’ve been advocating for Ukrainians — that they be given a chance to fight hard enough to make Mr. Putin back off?
Over the past year and to the surprise of most experts, the Israelis have largely incapacitated Hamas, Hezbollah and their patron in Iran. They achieved these results while scrupulously abiding by international law.
If you don’t get that, read the assessments by John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, and retired British Col. Richard Kemp, who has been on the battlefields of Gaza for months.
Their bottom line: The Israeli military has done more to minimize civilian casualties than any army in history
You should also be familiar with ex-paratrooper and former Sandhurst senior lecturer Andrew Fox. The bottom line of the report he recently pulled together for the Henry Jackson Society in Britain: The Israelis have succeeded in that effort as never before in an urban conflict — despite Hamas’ blatantly illegal practice of using civilians as humans shields.
The report finds that the facts have been egregiously misrepresented by much of the media.
Final question: Why is Mr. Khan, the prosecutor, propagating the lie that Mr. Netanyahu has been committing “crimes against humanity”?
Final answer: Because this is the form antisemitism takes in the 21st century.
Consider what you will be saying about Poland if you effectively bar the prime minister of the small, genocidally threatened nation-state of the Jewish people from a commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, where genocidal antisemitism reached its zenith in the 20th century.
Please call me anytime to discuss this or other issues. Until then,
Slava Ukraini!
Cliff
• Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for The Washington Times.
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