Irish chief rabbi: 'Ireland is one of the most anti-Zionist states in the West'

"Ireland is one of the most anti-ZIonist countries in the Western world," Ireland Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told Zvika Klein during The Jerusalem Post Podcast. 

Wieder, who was originally from London and was only recently appointed chief rabbi of Ireland, described how the anti-Israel sentiments in the Republic of Ireland have been felt "very strongly" since October 7.

"It really plays out on so many levels of society," he explained. "In the government, the opposition parties, the media, schools, and universities. And while we're very grateful there hasn't been a lot of violence for the most part – definitely compared to what we've seen in other countries – there have been extremely strong anti-Zionist sentiments, and the criticism of Israel is disproportionate to what we see in other countries. It's disproportionate to what Ireland itself does and gets involved in with other conflicts around the world. And that is really heavily felt by the Jewish community in Ireland."

Ireland is home to around 2,500 Irish Jews who have been in the country for generations, but there has also been a large influx of Israeli Jews who have moved to the country. Wieder estimated that as many as 1,500 Israelis may live in Dublin alone.

And the Jewish community has been struggling with everything going on.

How is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict portrayed in Ireland?

"On a political level, the narrative here in Ireland is extremely one-sided," Wieder 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. 

"It's not even so much about the fact that this country is very quick to criticize Israel; it's just that the whole way the conflict is spoken about is completely one-sided and completely inaccurate." 

The chief rabbi shared how he regularly speaks with students, who tell him how they have to watch videos about the history of the conflict. " And they are the most comical videos in terms of their historical inaccuracies and their bias, and when students challenge the videos and ask questions, they're told it's not up for discussion, that these are absolute facts, black and white."

Our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify