By Michael Ashcraft –
Antisemitism is so rampant in Ireland that Israel recently decided to close its embassy, making the Emerald Isle one of the only nations in Europe without a diplomatic envoy.
A third of Irish Christians believe Jewish people “talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust,” 49% agree that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than this country,” 36% say Jews “have too much power in the business world,” 31% say Jews are hated “because of the way they behave,” according to a December 2024 survey by Professors Motti Inbari of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Kirill Bumin of Boston University and Metropolitan College.
“Israel has unfortunately become a dirty word,” says Jamie O’Mahoney, a pro-Jewish activist with the Ireland-Israel Alliance. “There’s no real mainstream figure that is seen to be a Zionist advocate now. Ireland has a history of being by far and away the most anti-Israel country in Europe. We have blood libels that are frankly medieval.”
Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Ireland came after Irish parliament discussed expelling the Israeli ambassador, joined the International Criminal Court’s case against Israel, officially called Israel’s self defense a “genocide” against he Palestinians and pledged to support the phantom Palestinian state. Of all the political parties, none stands with Israel, O’Mahoney says.
“The antisemitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards,” said Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister. “Ireland has crossed all red lines in its relationship with Israel.”
Why is antisemitism rampant in Ireland? The reason appears to lie in its history – both its heavily Catholic background (69% as of 2021) and its own fight for freedom from England, in which it draws a parallel.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the Catholic Church finally absolved the Jews of Jesus’ crucifixion in Vatican 2. Ireland is heavily Catholic, and even though secularism has taken over (especially the political class), the Irish haven’t shed the old antisemitism.
In 1904, an influential priest, Father John Creagh, preached against the Jews and started a movement that was later called the Limerick Pogrom. A teenager, John Raleigh, was arrested by the police and briefly imprisoned for attacking a Jewish rabbi, but when he was released, a huge mob welcomed him, congratulating him. Many Irish boycotted Jews.
In 1945, Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valer signed a book of condolences for the death of Adolf Hitler at the German Embassy (Ireland had been neutral during WW2).
Such widespread antisemitism remains prevalent and gets focused on the existence of the nation of Israel. Because Ireland fought for independence from England, many see the Palestinians locked in a similar fight against Israel.
“Over the last few decades, Ireland has basically perpetuated a highly hostile policy to Israel.” O’Mahoney says. “Since Oct. 7,that has merely intensified.”
A group called the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has stepped up their meetings and activities to slam Israel and Jews.
By contrast, Ireland-Israel Alliance on universities across the island have “received an enormous amount of hate and negativity from everyone – from the students to the administration. Yeah, a real lot of backlash,” O’Mahoney says. “Unfortunately, it’s an uphill struggle.”
