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Ireland Officially Joins South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel
Anti-Israel demonstrators stand outside the Israeli embassy after Ireland has announced it will recognize a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, May 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Molly Darlington
Ireland has officially joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the latest move by Dublin against the Jewish state amid a downward spiral in relations between the two countries.
In a brief statement released on Tuesday, the top UN court said that Ireland the prior day joined Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Libya, Bolivia, Turkey, the Maldives, Chile, Spain, and “Palestine” in asking to intervene in the case.
Since December 2023, South Africa has been pursuing its case at the ICJ accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Nearly a year later, in November, the Irish parliament passed a non-binding motion saying that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” As the measure passed, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that the government intended to join South Africa’s case before the end of the year.
Weeks later, Martin said that he had received the government’s approval to intervene in the case against Israel.
“By legally intervening in South Africa’s case, Ireland will be asking the ICJ to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a state,” Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement at the time last month. “We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized.”
The statement claimed that there has been “a collective punishment of the Palestinian people through the intent and impact of military actions of Israel,” adding, “Ireland’s view of the [Genocide Convention] is broader and prioritizes the protection of civilian life.”
Ireland’s declaration of intervention puts forward no further allegations against Israel not already alleged by South Africa.
In January, the ICJ ruled there was “plausibility” to South Africa’s claims that Palestinians had a right to be protected from genocide. However, the top UN court did not make a determination on the merits of South Africa’s allegations — which Israel and its allies have described as baseless and may take years to get through the judicial process. Israeli officials have strongly condemned the ICJ proceedings, noting that the Jewish state is targeting terrorists who use civilians as human shields in its military campaign.
Pro-Israel advocates welcomed the ICJ ruling because it did not impose a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza and called for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas last Oct. 7. Rather than declare that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and order the Jewish state to stop its military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, the court issued a more general directive that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide.
In late October, South Africa filed the bulk of the relevant material to support its allegations.
Ireland’s latest move, proceeded by a wave of fierce criticism from the Irish government directed at Israel, led the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the move and explained the key reason was Ireland’s decision to join South Africa’s case at the ICJ and its support for redefining genocide in order to secure a conviction against Jerusalem.
Israel accused the Irish government of undermining Israel at international forums and promoting “extreme anti-Israel policies.”
Ireland has “crossed all the red lines,” Sa’ar told reporters at the time, calling the Irish government’s actions “unilateral hostility and persecution” rather than mere criticism.
The announcement came after Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, accusing the country of “the starvation of children” and “the killing of civilians” — remarks that Sa’ar slammed as “antisemitic” and historically insensitive. Sa’ar also noted how “when Jewish children died of starvation in the Holocaust, Ireland was at best neutral in the war against Nazi Germany.”
Ireland has been among Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel since Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In May, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, prompting outrage in Israel, which described the move as a “reward for terrorism.” Israel’s Ambassador in Dublin Dana Erlich said at the time of Ireland’s recognition of “Palestine” that Ireland was “not an honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More recently, Harris in October called on the European Union to “review its trade relations” with Israel after the Israeli parliament passed legislation banning the activities in the country of UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, because of its ties to Hamas.
Recent anti-Israel actions in Ireland came shortly after the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se), an Israeli education watchdog group, released a new report revealing Irish school textbooks have been filled with negative stereotypes and distortions of Israel, Judaism, and Jewish history.
Antisemitism in Ireland has become “blatant and obvious” in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, according to Alan Shatter, a former member of parliament who served in the Irish cabinet between 2011 and 2014 as Minister for Justice, Equality and Defense. Shatter told The Algemeiner in an interview earlier this year that Ireland has “evolved into the most hostile state towards Israel in the entire EU.”
Three months ago, an Irish official, Dublin City Councilor Punam Rane, claimed during a council meeting that Jews and Israel control the US economy, arguing that is why Washington, DC does not oppose Israel’s war against Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Catholic religious establishment in Ireland has also come under scrutiny for targeting Israel. In a New Year’s message last week by Archbishop Eamon Martin, the most senior Catholic figure in Ireland lambasted Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as “merciless” and a “disproportionate” response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks.
Martin was not the first prominent Irish cleric to use his platform to castigate Israel in recent days.
In November, Reverend Canon David Oxley came under fire for delivering an antisemitic memorial sermon in which he suggested that Israelis and Jews see themselves as a “master race” that justifies “eliminating” other groups “because they don’t count.”
Oxley delivered the sermon at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin during a Remembrance Sunday service attended by Irish President Michael Higgins and other high-ranking dignitaries.
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Ousted US Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush to Star in New Show on Anti-Israel Zeteo Network
US Reps. Cori Bush (left), Jamaal Bowman (right), and Rashida Tlaib (center). Photo: Reuters
Former US Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush are set to launch a new show on the controversial anti-Israel Zeteo network.
On Thursday, Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, a prominent anti-Israel journalist, announced that Bowman and Bush have agreed to star in a new monthly show on his network.
Let’s go baby! https://t.co/dgoMhBVYRW
— Jamaal Bowman Ed.D. (@JamaalBowmanNY) February 20, 2025
In the trailer, the former lawmakers say that their show “Bowman & Bush” will expose the shady inner-workings and backroom dealings of the federal government.
“We’ll be breaking down what’s really happening in Washington, DC,” Bowman says.
Bush, one of the most strident opponents against Israel during her term in office, laments in the trailer that “outside groups, including AIPAC, spent millions and millions of dollars to unseat me, to try to silence me.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, spent millions of dollars last year in the Democratic primary races of Bush and Bowman, both progressive firebrands, successfully unseating them.
Bush explains in the trailer that her show will deliver an unvarnished look into the
the corruption, the lobbying, the big money” that influences federal politics, “and how it could all be working better for you.”
Following Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, both Bush and Bowman issued intense criticism of the Jewish state’s defensive military efforts in Gaza.
The progressive former lawmakers called for a “ceasefire” between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group less than a month removed from the Oct. 7 massacre. They each falsely accused Israel of engaging in an array of war crimes in Gaza, including “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” and imposing a “famine.” The duo also dismissed Israel’s counterterrorism initiatives in the West Bank as “apartheid.”
Bowman specifically, declared the mass rapes of Israeli women on Oct. 7 a “hoax,” before walking back his comments following widespread backlash. He has accused Israel of advancing “white nationalism” and “settler colonialism” and also suggested he may no longer support Israel’s unequivocal right to exist or defend itself.
Bush ultimately lost her reelection campaign to St. Louis attorney Wesley Bell in August while making her opposition to Israel a key talking point of the race. Bowman came up short against Westchester County executive George Latimer.
Zeteo, the network on which “Bowman & Bush” is set to air, has positioned itself as a major source of anti-Israel content creation. Hasan, the network’s founder and main host, has declared the ongoing war in Gaza a “genocide” and repeatedly pressured US lawmakers to implement an arms embargo against the Jewish state.
Moreover, Zeteo’s high production value and elaborate sets have raised questions surrounding its funding sources, with critics alleging it has received money from Qatar. In response, Hasan has denied receiving “any money from foreign governments or foreign citizens,” adding that “every investor in Z is an American citizen [who] has nothing to do with Qatar.”
The post Ousted US Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush to Star in New Show on Anti-Israel Zeteo Network first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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EU and Israel Resume Dialogue With Focus on Gaza’s Future
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks next to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica as they hold a press conference on the day of an EU-Israel Association Council with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called for a constructive dialogue but braced for criticism from some European countries as he arrived for talks on Monday in Brussels.
The Israeli minister is meeting senior European officials, reviving a dialogue with the European Union as the bloc considers a role in the reconstruction of Gaza following last month’s fragile ceasefire deal.
“I’m looking for a constructive dialogue, an open and honest one, and I believe that this is what it will be,” Saar told reporters on arrival.
“We know how to face criticism,” he said, adding “it’s okay as long as criticism is not connected to delegitimization, demonization, or double standards … but we are ready to discuss everything with an open mind.”
Saar will co-chair a meeting of the EU–Israel Association Council with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in the first such session since 2022. Talks are set to focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and changing regional dynamics.
The Israeli foreign minister said that within the EU “there are very friendly countries, there are less friendly countries,” but that Monday’s meeting showed a willingness to renew normal relations.
The Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel‘s response, exposed sharp divisions within the EU. While all members condemned the Hamas attacks, some staunchly defended Israel‘s war in Gaza as others condemned Israel‘s military campaign and its toll on civilians.
COMPROMISE
In February 2024, the leaders of Spain and Ireland sent a letter to the European Commission asking for a review of whether Israel was complying with its human rights obligations under the 2000 EU–Israel Association Agreement, which provides the basis for political and economic cooperation between the two sides.
But ahead of Monday’s meeting, the bloc’s 27 member countries negotiated a compromise position that praises areas of cooperation with Israel while also raising concerns.
At the meeting, the EU will emphasize both Europe’s commitment to Israel‘s security and its view that “displaced Gazans should be ensured a safe and dignified return to their homes in Gaza,” according to a draft document seen by Reuters.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump shocked Arab nations and Western allies by proposing the United States “take over” Gaza, displacing its Palestinian inhabitants and creating the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The war started when Hamas-led terrorists launched a cross-border attack on Israeli communities that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post EU and Israel Resume Dialogue With Focus on Gaza’s Future first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Merz Says He Will Find Way for Netanyahu to Visit Germany Without Being Arrested
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the party headquarters, after the exit poll results are announced for the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit and would find a way for him to do so without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court.
“I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merz said at a press conference, a day after his conservatives won the largest share of the vote in a national election.
Merz said he had told Netanyahu by phone “that we would find ways and means for him to visit Germany and leave again without being arrested.”
Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli leader had congratulated Merz. It also said Merz had told Netanyahu he would invite him to Germany “in defiance of the scandalous International Criminal Court decision to label the prime minister a war criminal.”
The Hague-based ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister as well as Hamas officials for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
All 27 EU countries including Germany are signatories of the founding treaty of the court, the only permanent international tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which requires members to arrest its suspects on their territory.
The ICC said that states have a legal obligation to enforce its decisions, and any concerns they may have should be addressed with the court in a timely and efficient manner.
“It is not for states to unilaterally determine the soundness of the court’s legal decisions,” said the ICC.
Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the court and denies war crimes, noting its military forces in Gaza have been targeting Hamas terrorists, who hide their weapons, operations centers, and other military infrastructure within and underneath civilian sites.
Germans feel a special responsibility towards Israel due to the legacy of the Holocaust, and Merz has made clear he is a strong ally. But Germany also has a strong tradition of support for international justice for war crimes.
The Left party called Merz’s invitation a “disaster” and accused him of “double standards.”
Germany has always insisted that international arrest warrants must be implemented, said Left co-leader Jan van Aken.
“If Vladimir Putin comes to Germany, then this arrest warrant must be implemented. The same applies to Netanyahu,” said Aken, referring to an ICC arrest warrant issued for the Russian leader over the deportation of children from Ukraine.
The war in Gaza started when Hamas-led terrorists launched a cross-border attack on Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Merz Says He Will Find Way for Netanyahu to Visit Germany Without Being Arrested first appeared on Algemeiner.com.