RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/when-irish-eyes-are-crying/

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar didn’t mince words on Sunday, when he “instructed the closure of Israel’s embassy in Ireland.”

The “actions, double standards and antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government against Israel are rooted in efforts to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state,” he wrote in a post on X, going on to list concrete examples that led to the move.

“The Irish government recognized a ‘Palestinian state’ during attacks on Israel (a move praised by Hamas); attempted to redefine ‘genocide’ in international law to support baseless claims against Israel at the International Court of Justice; backed politically motivated cases at the International Criminal Court; promoted anti-Israel measures within the European Union; and fostered hostility toward Israel,” he stated, adding: “Notably, Ireland is one of the few European countries that has not adopted the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism, and its government has failed to take effective measures to combat the surge of antisemitism within Ireland.”

He concluded with a vow that Israel would “focus its resources on strengthening bilateral relations with countries worldwide, according to priorities that also take into account the attitudes and actions of these states toward Israel.”

Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Simon Harris shot back at what he called “a deeply regrettable decision from the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government,” and went on to “utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel.”

No, insisted Harris, “Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law. Ireland wants a two-state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law. Nothing will distract from that.”

Well, he certainly hasn’t allowed truth to invade his false narratives, which is precisely why his government is seeking to broaden the meaning of genocide in order to guarantee that Israel be censured for it. It’s also behind his suggestion that Israel isn’t “pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”

But Harris’s disingenuous protestations were small fry compared to the bald-faced mendacity expressed on Tuesday by Irish President Michael Higgins. During a credentials ceremony for two new ambassadors to Ireland—Nicola Faganello of Italy and Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid from the non-existent “State of Palestine”—he responded to a reporter’s question about Sa’ar’s antisemitism allegations by taking a trip to la-la-land.

It’s a “very serious business to actually brand a people because in fact they disagree with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is in breach of so many bits of international law, and who has beached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors, in relation to Lebanon, Syria and would like in fact actually to have a settlement into Egypt,” he babbled, hand shaking, before taking a breath to resume his redundant rant.

“I think to suggest that because one criticizes Prime Minister Netanyahu, that is, one is antisemitic, is such a gross defamation and slander,” Higgins said, adding, “Well, I have to say that originally when I accepted [Israeli Ambassador Dana Erlich’s] credentials, I put it [comments about Irish policy] down to lack of experience, but then I saw later that it was part of a pattern to damage Ireland.”

Sa’ar didn’t let the remarks slide.

“Once an antisemitic liar, always an antisemitic liar,” he retorted on X. “Ireland’s president reached a new low, spewing lies that Israel ‘has breached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors, in relation to Lebanon, Syria and would like in fact to have a settlement in Egypt.’”

He continued, “Let’s get the facts straight. From Lebanese territory, Israel’s sovereignty was breached for over a year. For no reason and unprovoked, Hezbollah joined Hamas on Oct. 8 and since then fired tens of thousands of missiles, rockets and drones at Israeli citizens and communities. Israel did what any country would [do]: It defended itself against a brutal aggressor.”

As for Syria, Sa’ar went on, “While Assad’s regime disintegrated, armed groups entered the buffer zone and attacked UNDOF forces, in violation of the Disengagement Agreement from 1974. Israel temporarily entered a few limited points to prevent the threat of radical Islamists against its citizens and communities. Israel will not wait for another Oct. 7 on any of its borders.”

With regard to Egypt, he wrote, “Higgins invented the claim that Israel seeks to form settlements there. The facts: In the context of our peace agreement with Egypt, Israel withdrew from a huge area—all of the Sinai desert—and uprooted all of its communities there. This peace agreement has been maintained since 1979. And if we are discussing historical truths, let us not forget that Ireland was at best neutral during World War II. At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis, while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.”

Though Sa’ar was right to set the record straight, Dublin doesn’t care about accuracy. No wonder it always admired and sided with the late PLO chief and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat; a natural affinity and shared playbook will do that.

As Commentary magazine’s Seth Mandel reminds us: “Ireland has always treated Israel with special contempt. Decades after Eamon de Valera offered Germany his condolences on the death of Adolf Hitler, the country he helped found seemed permanently stuck in time. Ireland had to be dragged kicking and screaming into recognizing the Jews. The Israeli embassy barely predates the Good Friday Agreement.”

In other words, he points out, “This is not ancient history [and] the closing of the Israeli embassy in Dublin, whatever its merits, is not the end of an era; it’s the end of an insulting modern experiment that Irish leaders spent a couple decades routinely sabotaging. Irish leaders thought they could have a Jewish pet who would crawl around on all fours and eat out of a bowl on the floor. And they have the chutzpah to scold him as he stands up on two feet and walks out.”