Ireland has a problem with how Jewish people are treated here. We are perceived as being a cold house for Jews, and I’d say that is about right.
Today in Washington, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is scheduled to meet representatives of the US Jewish community. After the high jinks of the last few days of his US trip, this is an opportunity for reflection.
The meeting, according to the Government, is to “discuss the rise of global anti-Semitism and actions by Ireland to combat anti-Semitism, both at home and internationally”.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise across Europe, and Ireland will hold the presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026. We have ground to make up if we are to claim honest broker status on this issue.
The general election campaign was a raucous wake for an era that was already over
Ireland is not anti-Semitic but it’s not a good time to be Jewish in this country
Micheál Martin has real power at last. The big question is what he’ll do with it
A good foreign policy is one that no one notices. Unfortunately that’s not Simon Harris’s style
Part of the problem is the decibel level here of discourse around the Middle East generally and Gaza specifically. Little is said below the level of shouting. There is no space left here for either a broader perspective or nuance.
There is, however, an increasingly automatic overlapping of Jews with Israel. Zionism has become a term of abuse. While the politics of this unfurls on the streets, online and in the media, Irish Jews and Jewish people in Ireland are increasingly uncomfortable.
There unquestionably are lurid examples of outright anti-Semitism, but that is not the national mood. However, there has been an outbreak of carelessness and insensitivity, and systematic negligence – until very recently – in terms of engagement with Jews in Ireland, a population that is relatively small and diverse in views.
There is no monolith, no “them” to speak of. But Jewish people describe a palpable sense of being somehow less of this place than before. That’s a shame, and the shame is on the rest of us.
The continuum of noise from the rhetoric of parliamentary debates, through to the din of shouting in street marches, and the affinity with – or lack of distance from – groups including Hamas and Hizbullah is chilling for Jews. Those organisations, the statelets they control and the movements they lead are dedicated to the eradication of the state of Israel, not negotiation with it.
The automatic assumption that calibrating one’s thoughts implies support for the Netanyahu government makes discussion difficult. Shouting makes talking impossible; it also stops thinking.
The sight in marches on our streets of flags and slogans associated with terrorist groups committed to slaughter makes protest against slaughter seem hollow. The regular fraternisation of politicians with those flag carriers on platforms and outside Leinster House is so normalised as to be invisible and inconsequential to nearly all. But it is seen by Jewish people.
If my small circle of acquaintances is a guide, there are few cheerleaders for the current Israeli government among Jews in Ireland. But that is not the point. To be Jewish in Ireland is to be burdened with assumptions, and the captive audience for chilling rhetoric. They describe not wanting to be on the streets on those days, avoiding the city centre so as not to be confronted.
It is not a good time to be out, proud, Jewish and Irish, or Jewish in Ireland.
Irish self-interest is one reason for today’s planned meeting. The other is our own ineptitude in putting us on the back foot diplomatically. Much of the political outrage here over Gaza seemed performative, but ineffective as performance. And it was damaging diplomatically. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin competed in outrage and outdid each other in sidelining Ireland politically within the EU on the issue.
There is now an effort by the Government to rebalance. How effective it will be remains to be seen. But in an act of performative outrage of its own, the Israeli government turned the tables on us, by closing the embassy here. It spotlighted the allegation that Ireland is anti-Semitic. It is not, but opportunistic self-identification with Palestinians; lack of interest in any other perspective; blindness to the purpose of Hamas and myriad other groups have isolated us politically when we most need friends. That is why today’s meeting is happening.
There is no good outcome for Ireland in being at odds with Judaism. It coarsens our culture and gains us nothing. Now we are seeing an attempt to mend fences and listen more intently. To be of any relevance in the Middle East, we must be on some sort of speaking terms with Israel. To be credible in opposition to the policy of the Netanyahu government in Gaza, our own values must be credible.
