‘Tis the season of goodwill to all men. Except for the Irish and Israelis, that is, who have seen their already frosty relationship plunged into positively freezing temperatures this weekend with Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin.
Sunday’s announcement was unusually stark in diplomatic terms, but it reflects the growing resentment and, at times, genuine confusion felt by many politicians and diplomats in Jerusalem and Dublin about what they see as Ireland’s unfairly pro-Palestinian position since October 7th.
From the president downwards, there has been a hostility to Israel that is genuinely unprecedented in Irish political life
According to Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, ‘Ireland’s extreme anti-Israel policy’ had reached the point where maintaining the embassy on Dublin’s Shelbourne Road had simply become untenable.
As Sa’ar put it: ‘The anti-Semitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state and on double standards.
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