Irish-Jewish community up in arms over anti-Israel president’s address at Holocaust memorial

(WND News Center) The anti-Israel and pro-Hamas president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, recently made his intentions clear to speak at an upcoming Holocaust memorial event in Dublin, in spite of the vociferous objections of the small Irish-Jewish community. And insult was added to injury on Wednesday when a statement from the community’s leadership highlighted how Israel’s ambassador to the country had not been invited to speak.

 

In what seems an extraordinary move, Holocaust Education Ireland decided not to invite Israel’s ambassador, Dana Erlich, who is still in situ, despite a decision by Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar,’ late last year to shutter the embassy, at least partly over the Irish decision to recognize a “Palestinian” state. It is the first time in 10 years the ambassador has not been invited, since a similar incident a decade ago when the then-Irish ambassador was similarly not invited. HEI claimed all current ambassadors were invited and that Israel had recalled its emissary in May 2024, followed by its closure of the embassy in December.

Chair of the Jewish Representative Council Maurice Cohen released a statement regarding the controversy in which he conveyed the community was “deeply disappointed and troubled” by HEI’s decision not to allow Israel’s ambassador to speak. “The Holocaust Memorial Day observance is meant to unite us in remembrance, reflection, and resolve against anti-Semitism and hatred. Excluding the Israeli ambassador undermines both the spirit and intention of this solemn commemoration,” he wrote.

 

“The State of Israel welcomed survivors in 1948 after they had been wandering around Europe for 3 years. Today nearly 50% of all Holocaust survivors live in Israel bearing daily witness to the horrors endured and the resilience born out of that darkest chapter in history. Furthermore, a large portion of our local Irish Jewish community today is Israeli in origin, underscoring Israel’s role as a cornerstone of Jewish identity and continuity,” he added.

Irish lawyer and former minister of justice, Alan Shatter, joined the condemnation, saying: “Holocaust Education Ireland is the only Holocaust Remembrance group hostile towards Israel. This is sadly an historical issue entirely disconnected from recent conflicts that has never been publicly explained by its board members,” according to the Jewish Chronicle.

The current imbroglio merely heaps additional strife on already fractious relationship between Higgins and the Jewish community specifically, and also with Israel more broadly. In Sa’ar’s explanation for closing the embassy he stressed the “actions, double standards, and antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government against Israel are rooted in efforts to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state.” Latterly this not only included recognizing a “Palestinian” state, it also backed South Africa’s claims of the IDF committing ‘genocide’ in the Gaza Strip, as well as supporting the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Higgins himself has been at the forefront of seeming to cause deep offense to the Jewish community, backed by an array of like-minded supporters on social media.

Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said Higgins “has neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it,” reported the JC.

“I fear his address marking Holocaust Memorial Day will inevitably ring hollow for many Irish Jews,” he added.

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