By Grant Arthur Gochin.
Ireland, a nation of five million, has sunk into a cesspool of malice, masquerading as a beacon of “humanity” while spewing venom against Israel and the Jewish people.
Since the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, which slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and took over 250 hostages, Ireland’s government has waged a relentless campaign of defamation against the Jewish state. This is no diplomatic disagreement—it’s a calculated crusade steeped in double standards and blood libels, no longer even trying to hide its blatant, seething, open, obsessive, and pathological hate. From accusing Israel of genocide to desecrating Jewish memory at Holocaust memorials, Ireland’s actions demand a fierce response. It’s time to target Ireland’s economy, which thrives on American investment, as exposed in the New York Times’ August 14, 2025, report on its tax haven schemes for U.S. drugmakers.
Ireland’s Hostile Actions Against Israel Since October 7, 2023
Ireland’s government has crossed every line in its vendetta against Israel, launching a sinister attack marked by deceit and betrayal. On November 7, 2024, its parliament passed a non-binding motion accusing Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, a grotesque distortion of Israel’s defensive war against Hamas terrorists who embed among civilians, cynically using child soldiers and children as human shields to maximize civilian casualties and shield their own war crimes.
This is no honest critique but a calculated ploy, as Ireland, knowing it cannot secure a conviction with existing evidence, schemes to amend the data until a guilty verdict can be forced—exposing a shameless manipulation of justice. Foreign Minister Micheal Martin’s announcement of Ireland joining South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel, demanding a broader definition of genocide, aligns Ireland with South Africa’s subservience to Iran’s anti-West agenda, as Tehran deepens its military-strategic partnership with Pretoria to counter “global arrogance”—effectively turning Ireland into a proxy carrying out Iran’s mission against America and Israel.
This treacherous strategy ignores Hamas’s initiation of the conflict with thousands of rockets and its use of civilian infrastructure, facts Ireland’s leaders deliberately suppress to paint Israel as the criminal while absolving Hamas of its own atrocities. Adding to this betrayal, Ireland insulted one of its own citizens, Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli girl held hostage by Hamas for 50 days after the October 7 attack, with her father Thomas Hand bitterly condemning the government’s pro-Hamas policies that favor her captors over her suffering, exposing Ireland’s disgraceful abandonment of its own people.
In this vile campaign, Ireland seeks out corrupted, ideologically driven self-hating Jews like those from B’Tselem, a disgraced organization wallowing in anti-Israel venom, to amplify its slander. B’Tselem, a festering hub of self-loathing, peddles distorted narratives that Ireland eagerly embraces, cynically weaponizing the Jewish identity of these traitors to shield its accusations from charges of antisemitism and lend them a perverse credibility.
This calculated alliance with such groups underscores Ireland’s desperation to cloak its pathological hatred in a facade of legitimacy, exploiting the very people they betray. In a shameful act, Ireland’s National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration on January 26, 2025, in Dublin was turned into a platform for this anti-Israel propaganda. Intended to honor the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, the event—attended by survivors like Tomi Reichental and Ireland’s Jewish community—was marred by President Michael D. Higgins’ keynote.
Despite objections from Jewish leaders, Higgins linked Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, prompting a silent protest by attendees like Lior Tibet, an Israeli-Irish Holocaust researcher. Security forcibly removed Tibet, who shouted, “I’m Jewish, why are you removing me?” and another Jewish woman, actions Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder called “a disgrace.” Oliver Sears of Holocaust Awareness Ireland condemned the desecration of the victims’ memory. Excluding most media and omitting an Israeli representative, unlike previous years, deepened the insult, revealing Ireland’s contempt for Jewish sensitivities.
In May 2024, Ireland recognized a Palestinian state, a move Israel’s Ambassador Dana Erlich called a “reward for terrorism,” timed before elections for political gain. This cynical recognition, celebrated by Hamas as validation for its October 7 massacre, directly emboldens the terrorists Ireland claims to oppose, exposing its hypocrisy as a calculated boost to their genocidal agenda. Ireland upgraded its Ramallah office to an embassy and accepted a Palestinian ambassador who demanded Israel’s UN suspension over its UNRWA ban, an agency tied to Hamas.
Prime Minister Simon Harris called for an EU review of trade with Ireland, accusing it of “killing children” and causing “reprehensible” civilian deaths. Higgins congratulated Iran’s president, a regime committed to Israel’s destruction, while ignoring Hezbollah’s violations—further cementing the warm ties between Ireland and Iran, allies collaborating to undermine Western values. Ireland’s parliament advanced the “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill” post-October 2023, targeting Israeli goods from disputed territories with €250,000 fines and five years’ imprisonment.
Former Justice Minister Alan Shatter compared it to Nazi boycotts of Jewish businesses, warning it risks profiling Jewish producers. Despite Ireland’s recent non-binding endorsement of the IHRA antisemitism definition on January 17, 2025, the bill violates EU trade laws and Ireland’s constitution, yet Ireland persists, ignoring antisemitic content in school textbooks, as per a 2024 IMPACT-se report. Excluding Israel’s ambassador from 2024 party conferences while hosting Iran’s, skipping Jewish community events like an October 2024 Hamas massacre remembrance, and opening an embassy in Tehran in September 2024 align Ireland with Israel’s enemies. Israel recalled its ambassador in May 2024 and closed its Dublin embassy in December, citing Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies” and “antisemitic rhetoric”.
UNIFIL Failures
Ireland’s complicity in enabling terrorism is evident in the failures of its UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon, who have neglected their mandate while Hezbollah built a terror infrastructure. Stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978 under UN Resolution 1701[15] to monitor the Israel-Lebanon border and prevent Hezbollah’s militarization, Ireland’s 370-strong contingent, based at Camp Shamrock, failed to report a nearly 1km-long Hezbollah tunnel complex uncovered by the IDF in Maroun El Ras in November 2024, just 1.7km from an Irish-manned UNIFIL outpost (UNP 6-52).
The tunnel contained rocket launchers, ammunition, and living quarters, designed for attacks on Israel. IDF footage showed Iranian-made electrical fittings, indicating recent construction, yet Irish peacekeepers reported no violations. On August 7, 2025, UNIFIL, with Irish troops as part of the mission, reported a Hezbollah tunnel network near Tayr Harfa, Zibqin, and Naqoura, with bunkers, rocket launchers, and explosives near UN positions, only after years of inaction allowed Hezbollah to fortify the region.
This network, part of a broader system spanning hundreds of kilometers, some crossing into Israel, violated Resolution 1701, which Irish troops failed to enforce. In October 2024, Irish peacekeepers refused to vacate posts during IDF operations to destroy these tunnels, prompting Israel to accuse UNIFIL of acting as a “human shield” for Hezbollah. In December 2022, Irish peacekeeper Pte. Sean Rooney was killed by Hezbollah-linked gunmen in Al-Aqbiya, yet Taoiseach Simon Harris accused Israel of endangering Irish troops, ignoring Hezbollah’s aggression and his own forces’ failure to curb terror activities under their watch.
Antisemitism or Anti-Israel Zeal?
Ireland’s leaders claim to be “pro-peace,” but their silence on Hamas’s war crimes, Iran’s abuses, and Hezbollah’s attacks reveals a sinister bias. Ireland’s Jewish population, just 2,557 per the 2016 census, or 0.05% of 5.2 million, is a tiny, vulnerable minority, dwarfed by the 85% Catholic majority, making them an easy target for Ireland’s hateful campaign.
Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder reports “kill Jews” graffiti and Hamas flags at pro-Palestinian rallies, unchecked by authorities. Fine Gael councilor Punam Rane’s October 2024 claim that Jews and Israel “rule” the U.S. economy echoes antisemitic tropes. Despite Ireland’s recent nonbinding endorsement of the IHRA antisemitism definition on January 17, 2025, its failure to address campus harassment of Jewish students may still foster a subtle form of antisemitism that targets Jewish identity by leveraging criticism of Israel, a strategy enhanced through its manipulation of Jewish self-critics to conceal its prejudice.
Catholicism in Ireland was a particularly brutal version, and the Irish have been fleeing the Church. But as with any belief system, one cult rejected—whether a rigid ideology, a dominant addition to society, or the once-omnipotent Catholic Church—must be replaced with a new cult-like adherence. In Ireland, this replacement ideology is the obsessive hatred of Jews, now an item of cult-like devotion in their society, brooking no social deviation, just as the Catholic Church’s iron grip tolerated no dissent during its years of dominance.
This fervor is exemplified by the rise of the “Paddystinian” movement, as reported by *The Guardian* on May 25, 2025, where Irish pro-Palestine activists have embraced this term—originally an insult from Israel supporters—as a badge of honor, adorning it on T-shirts and social media bios. This blind devotion abandons reason, rational discourse, and historical context, aligning with terrorism against Jews by glorifying Hamas’s actions and rejecting Israel’s right to self-defense.
[Author’s Opinion: It is my view that Catholicism was inherently antisemitic for 2000 years, and as the Irish abandon church attendance, they have not discarded this antisemitism but have instead kept it alive, reinforced it, and escalated it to become the most prominent aspect of their culture. This has transformed into a focal point of Irish identity, where to be Irish increasingly means to lie about Israel and spew hate against it, a cult-like adherence that mirrors their historical religious fanaticism.]
The Irish, with their singular social mindset, have traded one dogmatic cult for another, enforcing this new anti-Jewish creed with a fervor that sanctions violence and dismisses evidence.
Jews Who Shaped Ireland
Despite their miniscule numbers, Jews have profoundly shaped Ireland. William Annyas was Youghal’s mayor in 1555, followed by Francis Annyas in 1569, 1576, and 1581. Lewis Wormser Harris was elected Dublin’s Lord Mayor in 1874, dying before taking office. Robert Briscoe, a Jewish IRA member and Oireachtas member, was Dublin’s Lord Mayor in 1956 and 1961–62, and Gerald Goldberg led Cork in 1977.
Businessman Albert L. Altman shaped Dublin’s commerce, while Mervyn Taylor (Minister for Equality and Law Reform, 1993–97) and Alan Shatter (Minister for Justice and Defence, 2011–14) drove reforms. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Ireland’s Chief Rabbi (1921–36), became Israel’s first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, and his son Chaim Herzog was Israel’s sixth President. These contributions highlight the outsized impact of Ireland’s Jews, making their targeting utterly heinous.
Ireland’s World War II neutrality, condolences for Hitler’s death, and alignment with Iran and Hamas sympathizers expose a moral rot. Alan Shatter called Ireland’s 1930s refusal of Jewish refugees “morally bankrupt,” a legacy echoed today. Sinn Féin, a major political party, has historic ties to Irish Republican Army (IRA) militants, who themselves had a decades-long alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and, over the past two decades, with other Palestinian factions. Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, reiterated calls to end Israel’s “genocidal war” in Gaza at a global anti-apartheid conference on Palestine in 2024, aligning the party with anti-Israel rhetoric.
Economic Retaliation: Hitting Ireland’s Wallet
Ireland’s treachery demands consequences, and its economy, reliant on American investment, is vulnerable. The New York Times exposed how U.S. drugmakers like Merck, AbbVie, and Eli Lilly use Ireland’s tax haven, exporting $50 billion in pharmaceuticals to the U.S. in 2024[14]. President Trump’s 15% tariff on European medicines, set to take effect soon, could cost Ireland billions as companies face levies or relocate production. Merck’s plan to shift Keytruda production to Delaware by 2030 signals more to come, threatening Irish jobs and revenue.
The U.S. should escalate pressure. Ireland’s €65-70 billion cumulative budget surplus over 2023-2026, built on U.S. multinationals, is a weak point. Targeted tariffs on Irish whiskey, dairy, and tech services—$5.9 billion in trade with Israel in 2023—could hurt. Sanctions on banks facilitating tax schemes could drive multinationals from Dublin. Incentivizing U.S. firms to move to Israel or allies would choke Ireland’s economy.
A boycott of Irish goods could amplify the pain, while Congress could exclude Irish leaders like Micheal Martin from St. Patrick’s Day events, signaling diplomatic costs. The U.S. should support EU sanctions against Ireland’s illegal boycott bill, which violates U.S. anti-boycott laws. In 2024, Dublin became the first European capital to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, dropping Hewlett-Packard from its investment portfolio, further isolating Ireland economically and diplomatically from Israel.
A Reckoning for Ireland
Does Ireland’s venomous vendetta against Israel, drenched in antisemitism and rewarding terrorism while reaping American generosity, demand accountability? Are its leaders guilty of spreading lies, desecrating Jewish memory, and enabling Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure under the pretense of peacekeeping? Do their “genocide” accusations in Gaza ring hollow without concrete action?
If Ireland views Gazans as refugees or Holocaust survivors, must it not open its borders to every single one? During the Great Famine (1845–52), Ireland sent hundreds of thousands to America for refuge, so is it not time to reciprocate that hospitality by admitting all 2 million Gazans? With Ireland’s vast current wealth and underpopulated land, it can house millions of Gazans. Its failure to act exposes a hypocrisy that preaches empathy while vilifying Israel to conceal its cowardice.
For 5,000 years, Jews have endured betrayals from ancient expulsions to modern pogroms. Ireland has effectively declared war on Israel, and with Israel’s long memory, it will respond in its own time. Jews, with their enduring memory, now recognize Ireland as an adversary, ensuring this stance will not be forgotten by worldwide Jewry. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted on November 29, 2024, that Ireland’s policies have strained bilateral relations, citing the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin as a direct consequence.
Is Ireland an enemy of the Jewish people? Does its relentless campaign against the Jewish state warrant a strong response from Israel and its allies? Should ICJ counterclaims be pursued to reveal Ireland’s legal manipulations? Could U.S. anti-boycott laws threaten Ireland’s $50 billion pharmaceutical sector? Might trade sanctions undermine Ireland’s whiskey and dairy industries? Are civil lawsuits a possibility to hold Ireland’s leaders accountable in court? Would congressional bans serve to embarrass Ireland on the world stage? Has Ireland weaponized B’Tselem’s self-hating rhetoric and UNIFIL’s complicity against Israel? Do Ireland’s actions demonstrate that antisemitism remains a dormant force, easily awakened as a cult-like allure for the Irish people?
Grant Arthur Gochin lives in Los Angeles, and is engaged in international affairs with a focus on Jewish interests.
This op-ed was originally published by EUToday.