Israel announced on Sunday that it was closing its embassy in Dublin in light of what it described as “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.”
The decision came days after Ireland announced that it would file an intervention in support of South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a charge Israel vehemently rejects.
Israeli officials said shuttering the embassy in Ireland did not mean that Israel was severing diplomatic relations with Ireland. Officials from both countries noted that Ireland’s embassy in Tel Aviv will continue to function.
But the move indicated a more muscular diplomatic policy led by Gideon Saar, Israel’s conservative foreign minister who was appointed to the post last month, as Israel faces mounting international criticism of the conduct of its war in the Gaza Strip.
“Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel,” Mr. Saar said in a statement on Sunday, adding: “Israel will invest its resources in advancing bilateral relations with countries worldwide according to priorities that also take into account the attitudes and actions of these states toward Israel.”
Illustrating his policy of rewarding countries considered friendly toward Israel, Mr. Saar also announced on Sunday that Israel would be opening a new embassy in Moldova, a country that already maintains an embassy in Israel.
“The relations between Israel and Moldova are friendly and both countries seek to expand and deepen them,” Mr. Saar said.
The prime minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, described Israel’s decision to close its embassy as “deeply regrettable” in a statement posted on social media. He added, “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”
Israel’s relations with Ireland have been rocky for months. Israel recalled its ambassador to Ireland in May, as well as its ambassadors to Spain and Norway, after the three countries each recognized a Palestinian state.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, Micheál Martin, said in a statement that Ireland and Israel would “continue to maintain diplomatic relations. Inherent in that is the right to agree and disagree on fundamental points.”
With that, he denounced the continuation of Israel’s war in Gaza, triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel that officials said killed about 1,200 people, as “simply unacceptable.”
Criticizing what he called “the collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Mr. Martin said, “We need an immediate cease-fire, the release of all hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Israel has come under increasing international censure over the high death toll and the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 in Gaza, according to the local health authorities, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that its forces have killed about 17,000 combatants.
Ireland said that it was intervening in the case against Israel in The Hague to ask the top international court “to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a state.”
Some criticism of Mr. Saar’s decision to close the embassy came from within Israel. Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, wrote in a social media post on X: “The decision to close the Israeli embassy in Ireland is a victory for anti-Semitism and anti-Israel organizations. The way to deal with criticism is not to run away, but to stay and fight!”
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