FM Sa’ar: Irish government is made up of ‘antisemites and obsessive anti-Israelis’

The Irish government is made up of “antisemites and obsessive anti-Israelis,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tells a gathering of Israeli influencers and public diplomacy experts in Jerusalem.

Tensions between Ireland and Israel have spiraled in recent weeks, as Dublin joined the International Court of Justice genocide case against the Jewish state, and Sa’ar announced he would be closing Israel’s embassy in the EU country.

“You can see from the statements in Ireland that they are under great pressure,” says Sa’ar. “We presented them to the entire international community exactly as they are: antisemites and obsessive anti-Israelis.”

Sa’ar also points at recent statements from US senators –including North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer — who panned Ireland for remaining neutral in World War II.

He says the diplomats in the ministry supported his decision to close the embassy, and that there was no hope of Ireland changing its hostile stance toward Israel. “It’s just spending our limited resources in the most incorrect place.”

Sa’ar also blasts the response of Irish President Michael Higgins to him calling the Irish government antisemitic earlier this week.

“You even saw all the lies in their president’s response. It is simply amazing. He could have played it safe and attacked us with things that are harder to refute. But no. He simply made up absurd things like ‘they are trying to establish settlements in Egypt.'”