Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin is “the correct move at this juncture”, according to the country’s ambassador to Ireland, who claims there is “an anti-Israel obsession” in the State.
In an interview on Monday with Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Dana Erlich said there had been “a systematic hate campaign specifically against me, as the person who represents the state of Israel in Ireland”.
She said this involved posters on the streets and negative commentary at demonstrations and that the Government never offered “any condemnation” of what she had faced.
Asked by the interviewer if she believed the Irish Government was anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, Ms Erlich replied: “Ultimately, the delegitimisation that Israel has been undergoing, the fact that Zionist has become a dirty word in Ireland – we know that that is the modernisation of anti-Semitism. It is the current incarnation of ancient anti-Semitism. So, to our regret, yes, we see the Irish Government advancing anti-Semitic measures.”
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Ms Erlich was speaking after the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs on Sunday said it had decided to close the embassy “in light of the extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish Government”. No specifics as to when the embassy will shut have yet been provided.
The move comes at a time of diplomatic tension between the countries over Ireland’s recognition of Palestinian statehood and its participation in the South African lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice over its war on Gaza.
Taoiseach Simon Harris on Monday said the decision to close the embassy was a ploy to distract attention from the thousands of children killed by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s armed forces in Gaza.
Ms Erlich was recalled to Israel in May after Ireland, along with Spain and Norway, declared they would unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state.
Speaking about her time in Ireland, she said: “Time after time we saw an anti-Israel obsession that doesn’t really help peace or coexistence. There was competition who could make the most extreme anti-Israel statements and there were no voices from the opposition or the media with a different view.”
Asked if closing the embassy was the correct move diplomatically, Ms Erlich said it was a difficult decision but the “correct move at this juncture”.
“For many years we’ve been considering our presence in Ireland and the presence of the embassy had turned into a source of incitement,” she said during Monday’s interview.
“So, this is a message to Ireland and other places: we’ll invest our resources, time, money and energy where there is legitimacy and a supportive government.”
She added: “As diplomats we stand on the front line, not just in Ireland but in other difficult countries. But what we see in Ireland is disproportionate, double standards and one-sided and we must decide as a country where to invest our diplomatic resources. We don’t have embassies in every country but our work with Ireland will continue, as will our responsibilities to the Jewish community and the Israelis living there.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, a former foreign minister, criticised the current foreign minister Gidon Sa’ar over the decision to close the embassy, saying it was “a victory for anti-Semitism and anti-Israel organisations”.
“The way to deal with criticism is not to run away but to stay and fight,” Mr Lapid wrote on X.
In response, Mr Sa’ar told Mr Lapid “the era of bowing our heads to haters and persecutors is over” and that he should be ashamed of himself for “choosing to define the Irish attitude towards Israel as ‘criticism’.”
Mr Lapid countered: “Israel needs to maintain embassies precisely in places where there is a strong conflict with the government, and a foreign minister who only gives up and runs away from conflict is not doing his job.”
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