Irish Deputy PM calls chief rabbi's comments on Gaza War 'extraordinarily insensitive'

Irish Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Foreign Minister Micheal Martin criticized the newly inaugurated Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder's comments on the Gaza War in a Friday statement to the Irish Examiner.

Wieder told the Examiner on Thursday that Israel had "a very good ratio" of civilian to combatant deaths in the war compared to other wars, historically.

He also said, "So there definitely are things that Israel could have done better, but overarchingly, yes, [the civilian deaths are] the responsibility of Hamas."

Deputy PM Martin on Friday called the comments "extraordinarily insensitive" and "wrong."

He told the Examiner, "I think it was at the least, extraordinarily insensitive to the many, many families who have lost children and loved ones in Palestine, people who had nothing at all to do with Hamas."

Martin later said there are "legitimate concerns within Ireland in terms of making sure there's a safe space for everybody in our country, where we can debate and argue and contest."

He continued saying, "I think that part is important within our education system, in particular within our universities, that those are safe spaces for debate, and for difference and for enabling people from different backgrounds and traditions to meet and to engage... but the comments I think were just wrong."

One-sided Irish narratives

Wieder told the Jerusalem Post Podcast that the political narratives about Israel in Ireland were extremely one-sided. 

He said "If there's one thing we've been trying to push, it's that the way that the conflict is being portrayed in the media and spoken about by politicians doesn't reflect at all Israel's side of the story."

"It portrays, without exception, Israel trying to find an excuse to kill as many innocent civilians as possible, to cause as much damage, and take revenge for October 7. There's no recognition of the threat that Hamas poses to Israel [and] to long-term peace in the region. There's no talk about getting rid of Hamas. The hostages are barely spoken about. "