‘RAT JEW’ graffiti painted on Ireland road; police treating incident as a hate crime
Vandalism also included swastikas, Stars of David, and ‘USA,’ covering some hundred yards of rural road in Leinster; Holocaust education NGO sounds alarm on echoes of Nazi rhetoric
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A road in Ireland was defaced with antisemitic graffiti this week, including the words “RAT,” “JEW,” and “USA,” along with swastikas and Stars of David.
The vandalism, on a rural road outside the small town of Ardee in Leinster province, was discovered as early as last Sunday, according to social media reports.
It spanned almost a hundred meters (just over 100 yards), according to local official John Sheridan.
Sheridan sits on the Louth County Council, which confirmed on Wednesday that it was working to have the graffiti removed, according to The Irish Independent.
Ireland’s national police force said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, according to The Irish Times.
“We would like to reassure those of an ethnic or minority background that we are here to keep you safe,” the force said, according to the news site. The police added they are in ongoing touch with the Jewish community in Ireland.
In a highly depressing turn of events, the day after I was berated by hundreds of Irish people on this app for writing an article that asked the Irish public to listen to the concerns of the Irish Jewish community, I have been sent these photos and video of antisemitic graffiti… pic.twitter.com/gA0XTKXdRS
— Rachel Moiselle (@RachelMoiselle) December 30, 2025
Holocaust Awareness Ireland, one of several Holocaust education groups in the country, said in a statement that the graffiti “repeats one of the most disturbing antisemitic caricatures deployed by the Nazis in pre-war Germany.”
“The depiction of Jews as rats or vermin was a keystone in the propaganda promoted by Josef Goebbels to dehumanize Jews,” HAI said, noting that the “association between Jews and rats became so normalized within German society” that the Nazi policy of mass-murdering Jews was referred to internally as “extermination.”
“It has been obvious that Ireland has experienced a rising trend of antisemitic sentiment across all social strata, including all levels of Government and media,” the group said.
It called on the government to immediately condemn the graffiti, on the relevant authorities to remove it, and for “a fine equal to one month’s pay for the person responsible.”
Our statement on the antisemitic graffiti in Co Louth, Ireland.
'Graffiti is a bellwether of national sentiment. It makes a statement on the bystander & the implications of a citizenry that accepts such explicit threats to a single ethnic minority, in public view.' pic.twitter.com/Ilq389GBcL
— Holocaust Awareness Ireland (@Holocaust_Irl) December 31, 2025
Amid the global surge in antisemitic hate crimes since the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Ireland has been one of the Jewish state’s fiercest detractors in the West, and statements by political and cultural figures have frequently been accused of crossing the line into antisemitism.
Israel shut its embassy in Dublin, explicitly accusing the Irish government of fostering and inciting antisemitism.
Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said recently, according to The Irish Times, that “antisemitic graffiti has become increasingly common, including graffiti explicitly calling to `Kill Jews.’”
A report by the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland relating to antisemitism in the country is expected in 2026. It will cover “over 100 incidents of hatred against Jewish people in Ireland,” Wieder said.
The Times of Israel Community.