Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar called Ireland’s president, Michael D. Higgins, an “antisemitic liar” on Tuesday after the latter falsely claimed that Israel is seeking to put settlements in Egypt, from which it withdrew in 1979.
The latest salvo deepens a diplomatic rift that began earlier this year when Ireland, Norway, and Spain — uniquely among European nations — decided to recognize “Palestine” as a state in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks.
Last week, Ireland decided to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which the African nation is accusing Israel of “genocide.” In response, Israel closed its embassy in Dublin.
Sa’ar accused Ireland’s government of “antisemitic rhetoric,” prompting the response from Higgins on Tuesday.
Higgins claimed that Israel had committed “slander” against the Irish people, but then went on to make the bizarre (and false) claim that Israel is trying to settle people in Egypt.
The Israeli foreign minister responded on X:
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 facts straight.
From Lebanese territory, Israel’s sovereignty was breached for over a year. For no reason and unprovoked, Hezbollah joined Hamas on October 8th and since then fired tens of thousands of missiles, rockets and drones at Israeli citizens and communities. Israel did what any country would – it defended itself against a brutal aggressor.
Syria: while Assad’s regime disintegrated, 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.
Israel will not wait for another October 7th on any of its borders.
With regard to Egypt – Higgins invented the claim that Israel seeks to form settlements there.
The facts: in the context of our peace agreement with Egypt – Israel withdrew from a huge area – all of the Sinai desert, and uprooted all of its communities there. This peace agreement has been maintained since 1979.
And if we are discussing historical truths, let us not forget that Ireland was at best neutral during World War II.
At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.
Irish voters are more pro-Israel than their government. In this year’s Eurovision song, Ireland’s entry, the Satanic act Bamie Thug, urged a boycott of the Israeli entry, but the latter won the second-most votes from Irish viewers.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
