The claim had been made by Israeli ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich, who was recalled by her government last week in response to Ireland’s recognition of Palestine.
Speaking to Reuters, Ms Erlich said all areas of the Irish-Israeli relationship were under review.
“Ireland is not neutral or an honest broker in this case because they are very supportive of the Palestinians. But what we are saying is this is not the time for such an announcement on recognition,” Ms Erlich said.
“We are getting more and more phone calls and conversations of concerned people — if it’s Israelis who invest in Ireland and are concerned about their investment, if it’s Israelis who have relocated to Ireland into different tech companies and either are requesting to be relocated somewhere else or asking to return to Israel,
“I think it sends the wrong message about the location and the centrality of Ireland as a tech hub when there are more and more people who are concerned about moving to Ireland. I don’t think that this is the message that Ireland wants to send to the world … And this is not what we want to see.”
However, on Monday, Simon Harris said this idea was “a distraction, quite frankly”.
“We were very clear last week when we announced along with Norway and Spain our intention to recognise the state of Palestine, why we were doing it, what it was and what it was not.Â
“What we have decided to do is recognise the state of Palestine because we believe in a two-state solution. We believe in the state of Israel and the state of Palestine living side by side in peace and stability and we believe at a time when others are seeking to bomb that hope to oblivion that it’s more important than ever to keep that hope alive.”
Mr Harris said it was possible to differentiate between the Israeli people and its government and said the scale of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza was not yet understood.
Speaking to Reuters, Ms Erlich said all areas of the Irish-Israeli relationship were under review.
“I think rather than anybody seeking to distract, I think what should concern the entire world today are the barbaric, horrific scenes that we saw last night in Rafah, where a displaced persons centre was attacked.
“Imagine, this place where parents bring their children for safety and security, a place that is meant to be some degree of refuge and safety, at his most horrific time, was attacked, was bombed and 45 people are dead. I don’t think anybody fully comprehends at all the scale of this.”
Mr Harris also criticised the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s decision to summon Irish ambassador Sonya McGuinness and show her videos of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 last year.