Ireland files motion to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel
Dublin officially asks to join case against Israel at ICC, after its government’s vote to do so led Jerusalem to announce closure of Dublin embassy
Ireland has officially filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, the International Court of Justice said.
The request submitted to the ICC on Monday has roiled Dublin’s relations with Jerusalem, and came after Ireland’s cabinet voted in December to join the case accusing Israel of perpetrating “genocide” during the ongoing war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded to the decision by announcing he would close Israel’s embassy in Ireland, which he accused of supporting “the politicized proceedings being conducted at the ICC against Israel and its leaders,” and working to change the definition of genocide to target Israel at the court.
He also charged that Dublin “encouraged” antisemitism under a prime minister he accused of hating Jews.
Israel recalled its ambassador last May after Ireland became one of three EU countries that said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland has not recalled its envoy to Israel and has stressed it will keep its embassy open, with officials from both countries saying diplomatic relations will be maintained despite Sa’ar’s decision to close the embassy.
Ireland has been one of Israel’s most outspoken critics throughout the war in Gaza, which broke out on October 7, 2023, with Hamas’s unprecedented attack in which 3,000 terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, mostly civilians.
In November, the Irish parliament passed a nonbinding motion declaring that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.”
Agencies contributed to this report.
