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Israel Says Ireland ‘Crossed All Red Lines’ With ICJ Genocide Case After Closing Dublin Embassy

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’s decision to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and its support for redefining genocide in order to secure a conviction against the Jewish state is the key reason for shuttering Israel’s embassy in Dublin, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Monday.
The move to close the embassy, which Sa’ar announced a day earlier, marked the first time Israel has closed an embassy of a European Union member state. It was a significant escalation in already strained relations, with Jerusalem accusing 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 on Monday, calling the Irish government’s actions “unilateral hostility and persecution” rather than mere criticism.
“Zionism and Zionists have become derogatory words in Ireland. They called the IDF’s actions war crimes,” he said.
Sa’ar blasted Dublin for supporting legal actions against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), promoting double standards, and failing to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
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. “Is Israel starving children?” Sa’ar asked.
“When Jewish children died of starvation in the Holocaust, Ireland was at best neutral in the war against Nazi Germany,” Sa’ar said. “In his victory speech at the end of World War II, Winston Churchill described how Ireland conducted an affair with Nazi Germany.”
Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder expressed regret at the embassy closure decision but echoed concerns about the Irish government’s approach.
“Ireland has chosen to vilify and roundly criticize Israel, without any recognition of the complexities of the realities in Gaza and Lebanon,” Wieder told The Algemeiner from Dublin.
“Irish political leaders have refused to acknowledge that Israel is waging war against jihadist terrorist organizations intent on its destruction. The anti-Israel narrative in Ireland has become extremely hateful, and is full of disinformation and distortions,” he added.
Wieder noted that Irish leaders had shown “no genuine concern for the plight of the hostages” taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and failed to demonstrate solidarity with Israel after the attacks, in which 1,200 people were murdered and 253 taken hostage.
“In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, while many other European countries flew Israeli flags above their government or public buildings, no such act of solidarity was shown in Ireland,” he said.
Wieder went on to say that while the embassy closure would “be a blow” for Israelis living in Ireland, many within that community view the move as inevitable.
Sa’ar accused Dublin of systematically working to harm Israel’s relationship with the European Union and adopting rhetoric that dehumanized Israelis and Zionists.
As relations with Ireland deteriorate, Israel plans to redirect diplomatic efforts elsewhere. Sa’ar announced the opening of a new Israeli embassy in Moldova, highlighting the government’s intention to focus on fostering ties with countries that show greater support for Israel.
“This is not only a matter of national pride but also of wise statesmanship,” Sa’ar said, emphasizing the importance of responding decisively to what he called persecution on the “diplomatic battlefield.”
“Acting sensibly against those who persecute the State of Israel is a matter of saving lives,” Sa’ar concluded.
Harris called the embassy decision “deeply regrettable.”
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said there were no plans to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.
Ireland has been among Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
Last month, the Irish parliament passed a non-binding motion saying that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” Ireland’s cabinet last week voted to join South Africa’s “genocide” case at the ICJ.
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.
Harris also 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.”
The post Israel Says Ireland ‘Crossed All Red Lines’ With ICJ Genocide Case After Closing Dublin Embassy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.