Was Israel right to close its embassy in Ireland this week?
“Ireland is one of the most anti-Zionist countries in the Western world,” Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told The Jerusalem Post’s Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein on The Jerusalem Post Podcast in May.
“It really plays out on so many levels of society,” he explained. “In the government, the opposition parties, the media, schools, and universities. And while we’re very grateful there hasn’t been a lot of violence for the most part – definitely compared to what we’ve seen in other countries – there have been extremely strong anti-Zionist sentiments, and the criticism of Israel is disproportionate to what we see in other countries.”
The World Jewish Congress says, based on 2023 figures, that there are some 2,700 Jews living in Ireland, some of them Israelis. It was in May that Israel recalled its ambassador in Dublin, Dana Erlich, after Ireland joined Spain and Norway in unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state. In November, the Irish parliament passed a nonbinding motion declaring that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” The final straw came last week when Ireland announced its support for the South African lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinians.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar decided to take strong action, and on Sunday he announced the closure of the embassy due to the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government.” He said: “The antisemitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards.”
Not everyone agreed with the decision. Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Sa’ar, accusing him of taking the wrong approach. “The decision… is a victory for antisemitism and anti-Israel organizations,” Lapid wrote on X. “The way to deal with criticism is not to run away but to stay and fight.”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called Israel’s decision “deeply regrettable.” He wrote on X: “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.” For his part, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said the two countries would continue to maintain diplomatic relations and there were no plans to close Ireland’s embassy in Israel.
Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said he opposed the embassy closure. “It is regrettable that circumstances have led the Israeli government to believe that closing the embassy in Dublin is the best course of action,” Cohen said. “It will have a deeply personal impact on many Irish citizens with Israeli roots, including members of our own community. It is crucial that both governments recognize the broader implications of their decisions, not just for bilateral relations but for the people they affect directly.”
Closing embassy ‘a blow for Israeli individuals and families living in Ireland,’ chief rabbi says
Rabbi Wieder said the decision to close the embassy “will be a blow for Israeli individuals and families living in Ireland, many of whom have contributed tremendously to the Jewish community in Ireland.”
Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Ambassador Erlich said closing the embassy had been a “tough decision.” Responding to concerns from the Jewish and Israeli communities in Ireland about the decision, she said: “We direct those concerns to the Irish government, the government that needs to make sure that they are safe, that there is a future for the Jewish community in Ireland. These assurances need to be made.”
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, the father of president Chaim Herzog and grandfather of President Isaac Herzog, served as Ireland’s first chief rabbi, strongly supporting Catholic Ireland’s struggle for independence while condemning all forms of discrimination against members of other faiths, before he made aliyah and became Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel.
In his memory, we echo Maurice Cohen’s call on both the Irish and Israeli governments “to seek pathways to rebuild trust and to ensure that avenues for diplomatic engagement remain open. Ireland has the potential to play a constructive role on the global stage, and it is our hope that this potential will be directed toward fostering understanding and reconciliation.”