Irish president bashes Israel at Holocaust memorial event

Ireland’s Michael Higgins “resorted to cheap and despicable provocation,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar blasted the Irish president on Sunday after the latter took the opportunity of speaking at a Holocaust memorial event to bash Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Even on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Irish President Michael Higgins failed to rise above himself and resorted to cheap and despicable provocation,” the foreign minister said.

“What a despicable person,” Saar added. “What a twisted policy.”

After speaking about the importance of Holocaust education so as to prevent another such genocide, Higgins segued into remarks about the war.

He gave a nod to the “the horrific acts of October 7” but immediately added “and its response.”

He then referred only to Israel’s actions without naming Hamas as the perpetrators of the massacre that caused the war or mentioning that had Hamas released the hostages, the war could have ended months ago.

Higgins spoke of “the loss of civilian lives, the majority women and children,” which, as Saar pointed out, was a parroting of Hamas propaganda points, as the ratio of noncombatants’ to combatants’ deaths has been two to one in the war, an unprecedently low number.

Higgins also discussed the “horrific destruction” of homes and “necessary institutions” in Gaza, as if Israel had no reason for demolishing them when the IDF has proven repeatedly that Hamas has used homes, schools, and hospitals as military sites in breach of international law.

Several members of the audience, including Holocaust survivors, stood up and turned their backs on him. Some were asked to leave by security guards, and a few were forcibly removed when they refused. Lior Tibet, an Israeli who teaches about the Holocaust at University College Dublin, was among them, and she expressed her shock at the female security guard who forced her to leave.

“I asked her, ‘How can you take a Jewish person out of this commemoration event? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ This was the only way I could protest about it,” she told The Irish Times.

“The last 15 months have been unbearable here,” she added, referring to the Israel-Hamas war. “We feel like we are talking to the walls when we talk about antisemitism. It is really disheartening to us to see no one gives us a voice.”

Several more people demonstrably walked out of the hall in solidarity with those who had been removed.

In all, some 20 out of the audience of 500 left the speech and were not allowed back in.

Higgins is known for his anti-Israel stance. He was asked by several prominent leaders of the Jewish community not to speak at the event, as they felt his presence would be inappropriate, but he ignored the request.

The Irish government in general is one of Israel’s sharpest critics in Europe. In December, Sa’ar closed the Israeli embassy in Dublin.

“The actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel are rooted in the delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state, along with double standards. Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel,” the foreign ministry said in an explanatory statement.