Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Sunday, December 15, that Israel will be shutting its embassy in Ireland, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government.”
“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,” said Sa’ar in a statement.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the decision “deeply regrettable.” “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel,” Harris wrote on X following Sa’ar’s announcement. “Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the two countries would maintain diplomatic relations and that there were no plans to close Ireland’s embassy in Israel.
Israel recalled its ambassador in May after Ireland became one of three EU countries that said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland has not recalled its envoy to Israel.
In November, the Irish parliament passed a nonbinding motion declaring that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” (TOI/VFI News)
Originally posted at vfinews.com
