Irish president accuses Israel of 'deep slander' over antisemitism allegations

Irish President Michael D. Higgins dismissed Israeli accusations of ingrained antisemitism in Ireland as “deep slander” and accused the Jewish state of seeking to build settlements in Egypt.

Higgins’s statements, made to the press on Tuesday, come after the Israeli Foreign Ministry closed the embassy in Ireland because of “actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel.”

Along with the announcement of the embassy’s closure, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a Sunday statement that he believed Ireland’s actions and rhetoric delegitimized and demonized the Jewish state.

“Ireland has crossed every redline in its relations with Israel,” he said.

Higgins told Irish media on Tuesday that he was deeply concerned about Sa’ar’s accusations and felt as if they were intended to harm Ireland.

“I take it as a very serious business to actually brand a people because, in fact, they disagree with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, who’s in breach of so many bits of international law and has breached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors in relation to Lebanon, Syria… and would like, in fact, to have a settlement in Egypt,” Higgins said, as seen in a video from RTE News on X/Twitter.

Once an antisemitic liar - always an antisemitic liar. Ireland's President reached a new low, spewing lies that Israel "has breached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors, in relation to Lebanon, Syria and would like in fact to have a settlement in Egypt."Let's get the… https://t.co/cEbhqI4x17

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) December 17, 2024

'Gross defamation and slander'

“I think to suggest that because one criticizes Prime Minister Netanyahu, that one is antisemitic, is such a gross defamation and slander,” Higgins continued. “I have to say that originally, when I accepted credentials, I put it down to lack of experience. But then I saw later that it was part of a pattern to damage Ireland.

“Over the years, I think it is the Irish psyche that we understand the words ‘dispossession,’ ‘occupation,’ and so on,” Higgins said, according to the Irish Times. “That’s why we stress the importance of international law… particularly in relation to the rights obligations of those who are in occupation on what is occupied territory.”

Sa’ar responded on X/Twitter with “once an antisemitic liar – always an antisemitic liar.”

Sa’ar disputed Higgins’s claims about any Israeli occupation in Lebanon, instead pointing to Hezbollah’s assault on Israel after the October 7 massacre.

“Israel did what any country would – it defended itself against a brutal aggressor,” Sa’ar wrote.

In regards to Higgins’s statements on the IDF’s presence in Syria, the foreign minister wrote that after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, “armed groups entered the buffer zone and attacked UNDOF forces, in violation of the Disengagement Agreement from 1974. Israel temporarily entered a few limited points to prevent the threat of radical Islamists against its citizens and communities.”

Regarding Higgins’s statements regarding Israeli desire for a settlement, Sa’ar pointed to Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in 1979 as proof of peace with Egypt.

“Israel will not wait for another October 7 on any of its borders,” he said, further adding that Ireland remained neutral in World War II. “At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.”