Israel has decided to close its embassy in Dublin in response to the Irish Government's support for the "genocide" cause in Gaza, led by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
"Ireland has crossed all red lines in its relationship with Israel", declared the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, in a statement issued on Sunday. Saar has labeled the support for the alleged "genocide" cause as "antisemitic" and condemned the rhetoric used by Ireland during the Gaza conflict.
Spain, Egypt, and Mexico also joined South Africa's actions before the ICJ, although they have not faced such a radical retaliation as the closure of diplomatic facilities. In Spain, as also happened in Norway and Slovenia, ambassadors were called for consultations after the recognition of Palestine, and none of them returned to their posts.
The former ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon was supposed to hand over her position to Zvi Vapni this year, who, however, did not take up his post in Madrid and has recently been appointed as the new Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands. Benjamin Netanyahu will have to designate a new diplomatic representative in Spain, although he may choose to temporarily leave the embassy in the hands of a senior official as before.
In the case of Ireland, the reprisals have been more direct, precisely at a time of power vacuum in Dublin, with ongoing negotiations between Prime Minister Simon Harris (of the Christian-democratic Fine Gael) and Micheál Martin (of the centrist Fianna Fáil) to renew the Government coalition.
"We must keep alive the hope and dream of a two-state solution at a time when, unfortunately, others are working to undermine it," were the words of Simon Harris to justify the recognition of the state of Palestine as "the only path to peace and security" in the Middle East.
Harris's move, who shortly after joined South Africa's demand for "genocide" in Gaza before the ICJ, was celebrated by Stephen Bowen, executive director of Amnesty International in Ireland: "For states like Ireland to step forward to intervene in these crucial cases brings a ray of hope. The impunity that atrocious crimes, including genocide, have enjoyed in the past fuels the atrocities we see today before our eyes, especially in Gaza".