Even after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, it seems that some European countries still insist on standing on the wrong side of history.
One of them is Ireland. While radical Islam continues to gain power, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin chose to use his speeches to criticize Israel and all but ignore the horrific slaughter committed by human monsters against Israelis, whose only crime was being Jewish.
Instead of mentioning the victims – the children, the women who were raped, and the elderly who were brutally slaughtered – the prime ministers and foreign ministers of Ireland chose to continue their country’s traditional line of condemning Israel, as if an event that shook the entire world had not taken place. His comments on the war in Gaza expressed empathy only toward “the Palestinian people,” without a single word about the war crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians.
Their speeches are a badge of shame on Ireland and a continuation of a long-standing hostile policy. This should not surprise anyone familiar with Dublin’s behavior over the past decades. Ireland has long been one of the main international platforms for delegitimizing Israel.
For years, its prime ministers and foreign ministers have promoted moves to impose sanctions on settlers in Judea and Samaria, joining South Africa in its petition to the International Court of Justice in The Hague – the same South Africa that serves as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organization. Ireland is becoming a direct partner in an antisemitic campaign aimed at branding Israel a war criminal while it defends its citizens.
In the Irish parliament, a recurring pattern of condemnations against Israel is also evident. There have been many calls to boycott Israeli products, cut diplomatic ties, and even recognize a Palestinian state unilaterally. Such legislative initiatives enjoy broad support from left-wing and center-left parties that preserve Ireland’s anti-colonial heritage yet refuse to see that it is Israel that is the victim of barbaric Hamas terror.
The Irish have fallen victim to calculated anti-Israel propaganda
In large parts of Irish society – particularly in academia and the media – there is a tendency to draw parallels between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the historical clashes in Northern Ireland. This comparison is baseless, dangerous, and misleading. The conflict in Northern Ireland was between two Christian communities over national and territorial issues and ended in a lasting peace agreement.
In Gaza, we are dealing with a radical Islamist organization that openly declares its desire to annihilate an entire people. This comparison seeks to grant moral legitimacy to terror and to portray Hamas as a political resistance movement.
In this sense, the Irish have fallen victim not only to an anti-Israel ideology but also to the calculated propaganda of radical Islamic actors operating across Europe. Dozens of universities in Ireland host annual “Israeli Apartheid Weeks,” antisemitic demonstrations disguised as “legitimate criticism,” and presentations of October 7 as a “response to occupation.”
IRELAND, A small country once symbolizing the struggle for freedom and independence, has in many ways become a state unable to recognize Israel’s right to those same values. Instead of condemning terror, it echoes the Palestinian victim narrative and strengthens the diplomatic mechanisms seeking to undermine Israel’s legitimacy in the international arena.
The Jewish pain, the shock of the massacre, and the abduction of children and infants simply do not register in the Irish consciousness. The left-leaning media, politically involved churches, and biased human rights organizations together create a mindset in which Israel is always perceived as the aggressor. Ireland no longer looks at facts but at images shaped by ideology.
The irony is that Ireland, which preaches morality and peace to the world, shows tolerance toward an organization that commits massacres, rape, and executions. A country that sanctifies human rights ignores the rape of Jewish women, the destruction of entire communities, and the abduction of the elderly. Irish history should have taught it a lesson about the justification of the struggle for life and freedom, but it chooses to side with those who destroy them.
Ireland conducts a two-faced policy toward Israel. In the past, it fought against the British Empire; now, it tries to atone for its historical trauma through crude distortion, transferring the blame for “imperialism” to a small state in the Middle East. This is the politics of guilt, not of justice.
Indeed, there are other voices in Ireland – journalists, public figures, and academics who understand that October 7 changed reality and that Hamas is not a liberation movement but an arm of Iran. These voices are pushed aside, silenced publicly, and attacked on social media. This atmosphere of fear weakens any substantive debate and turns Irish discourse into black and white, where Israel is always guilty and Palestinians are always victims.
Israel does not seek anyone’s mercy, but it is entitled to justice and integrity. When a Western country like Ireland joins the political and legal offensive against Israel, it strengthens Hamas and encourages continued violence. This is not only a betrayal of Western values; it is a direct blow to the global fight against terror.
Instead of standing with the victims, Ireland stands with the perpetrators of murder. Instead of demanding the release of hostages, it demands the conviction of the victims. Instead of defending the only democracy in the Middle East, it prefers the warm embrace of Islamist dictatorships.
History will judge Ireland – a country that chooses to turn a blind eye to the massacre of Jews, remain silent in the face of rape and murder, and grant legitimacy to terrorists in the name of human rights. Ireland has lost its moral right to preach about justice. Israel will continue to defend its citizens, act according to international law, and bring its sons home from captivity.
Ireland can choose whether to stand on the right side of history or remain a nation that prefers comfort and hypocrisy over truth and justice. Its choice will define not only its relationship with Israel but also its conscience as a Western country that claims to be moral.
The writer is CEO of Radios 100FM, an honorary consul and deputy dean of the Consular Diplomatic Corps, president of the Israel Radio Communication Association, and a former IDF Radio monitor and NBC correspondent.