Israel to close embassy in Dublin due to ‘extreme anti-Israel policies of Irish government’
Peter Beaumont
Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision to join a petition at the International Court of Justice in the Hague accusing Israel of genocide.
The decision was announced by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar who said it was prompted by the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policy,” specifying its decision choice to join the ICJ petition.
However, Israel has not applied similar measures to other countries, including Egypt, Spain, and Mexico, which also joined the petition.
“It should be noted that in the past, Israel’s ambassador to Dublin was recalled following Ireland’s unilateral decision to recognise a ‘Palestinian state,’ said Sa’ar, adding the move “had been prompted by Ireland’s announcement of its support for South Africa’s legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of ‘genocide.’”
Sa’ar said: “The actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel are rooted in the de-legitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state, along with double standards. Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel.
“Israel will invest its resources in advancing bilateral relations with countries worldwide according to priorities that also take into account the attitudes and actions of these states toward Israel.”
Ireland’s prime minister Simon Harris said the decision was deeply regrettable: “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel.”
Key events
Closing summary
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Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision last week to support a petition at the international court of justice accusing Israel of “genocide”. The move was announced by Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, who said it was prompted by the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policies”, noting its decision to join the ICJ petition last week.
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Israel’s government approved a plan on Sunday to expand Israeli settlements on the Golan Heights it occupies, saying it had acted “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” and out of a desire to double the Israeli population on the Golan. “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement reported by Reuters.
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The United Nations envoy for Syria has called for a quick end to western sanctions after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, the Associated Press reports. The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later descended into a civil war.
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Syria’s de facto leader claims that Israel has “crossed the lines of engagement” over its military actions inside the country. Israeli troops moved into a demilitarised zone inside the country after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group seized control last week, saying it did so to ensure border security for Israelis living in the occupied Golan Heights area.
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The threats to Israel from Syria remain despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted president Bashar al-Assad a week ago, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, amid military moves by his country to counter such threats. “The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared and the latest developments in Syria increase the strength of the threat – despite the moderate image that the rebel leaders claim to present,” Katz told officials examining the country’s defence budget, according to a statement.
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Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 44,976 Palestinians and wounded 106,759 since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday.
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Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel. The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week, would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon in positions they occupied last week.
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Germany’s foreign minister is warning anyone involved in atrocities for the ousted Syrian government against seeking refuge in her country, saying they would face “the full force of the law.” Germany has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, and several hundred thousand Syrian nationals live there. In rulings since 2021, former Syrian secret police officers already have been convicted in Germany for overseeing or facilitating the abuse of detainees.
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The new administration in Syria should be given a chance to govern after their constructive messages, and Turkey stands ready to provide military training if such help is requested, Turkish defence minister Yasar Guler said. Nato member Turkey backed the Syrian rebels who toppled president Bashar al-Assad last weekend, ending a 13-year civil war, Reuters reported. Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, two days after its intelligence chief visited the Syrian capital.
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Turkey announced it had reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after the Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and 12 years after the Turkish diplomatic mission was closed early in Syria’s civil war. Turkey has been a major player in Syria’s conflict, holding considerable sway in the north-west, financing armed groups there and maintaining a working relationship with HTS, which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad.
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Antony Blinken said the US had made “direct contact” with Syria’s victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels as western and Arab states along with Turkey jointly voiced support for a united, peaceful Syria. The US secretary of state’s comment is despite Washington having designated the HTS rebels as terrorists in 2018. Blinken and other diplomats held talks on Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, on Saturday. “We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said, without specifying how the contact took place.
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Middle East crisis live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Peter Beaumont
Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision last week to support a petition at the international court of justice accusing Israel of “genocide”.
The move was announced by Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, who said it was prompted by the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policies”, noting its decision to join the ICJ petition last week.
The Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, said on X: “This is a deeply regrettable decision from the Netanyahu government. I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.
“Ireland wants a two-state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law. Nothing will distract from that.”
To prepare khubeiza, the leaves of the kale-like plant must be roughly chopped and sauteed with onions, garlic and a dash of salt. Folklore says that the recipe originated among the Alawite communities who lived in Syria’s mountainous coastline where the fibrous, wild-growing plant can be found in abundance.
So poor were the Alawites during Ottoman times, the story goes, that the only food they could find to eat was khubeiza, which sprouts like a stubborn weed every spring.
When Hafez al-Assad, a member of the minority Islamic Alawite sect, seized the reins of power in 1971, he promised to lift the neglected community out of its poverty and end its hunger.
Fifty-four years later, the streets of the town of Qardaha, the birthplace of Assad, tell a story of a promise unfulfilled. The town is dotted with shabby blocks of flats, where families huddled around diesel-fed stoves complain of constant blackouts and how the municipal water supply only comes for half an hour, once a week.
Ireland’s taoiseach ‘utterly rejects’ Israeli assertion that its government is ‘anti-Israel’
We have more on the Irish prime minister’s response to Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin. Simon Harris called the move “deeply regrettable”.
“This is a deeply regrettable decision from the Netanyahu government. I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-International law,” the taoiseach said in a post on X.
“Ireland wants a two state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law. Nothing will distract from that.”
Netanyahu approves plan to expand settlements on Israeli-occupied Golan
Israel’s government approved a plan on Sunday to expand Israeli settlements on the Golan Heights it occupies, saying it had acted “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” and out of a desire to double the Israeli population on the Golan.
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Ireland’s prime minister has responded to Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin. The taoiseach, Simon Harris, called the move “deeply regrettable”.
Israel to close embassy in Dublin due to ‘extreme anti-Israel policies of Irish government’
Peter Beaumont
Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision to join a petition at the International Court of Justice in the Hague accusing Israel of genocide.
The decision was announced by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar who said it was prompted by the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policy,” specifying its decision choice to join the ICJ petition.
However, Israel has not applied similar measures to other countries, including Egypt, Spain, and Mexico, which also joined the petition.
“It should be noted that in the past, Israel’s ambassador to Dublin was recalled following Ireland’s unilateral decision to recognise a ‘Palestinian state,’ said Sa’ar, adding the move “had been prompted by Ireland’s announcement of its support for South Africa’s legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of ‘genocide.’”
Sa’ar said: “The actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel are rooted in the de-legitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state, along with double standards. Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel.
“Israel will invest its resources in advancing bilateral relations with countries worldwide according to priorities that also take into account the attitudes and actions of these states toward Israel.”
Ireland’s prime minister Simon Harris said the decision was deeply regrettable: “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel.”
The United Nations envoy for Syria has called for a quick end to western sanctions after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, the Associated Press reports.
The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later descended into a civil war.
The UN envoy Geir Pedersen told reporters during a visit to Damascus on Sunday that “we can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria.”
Parts of Syria’s biggest cities remain damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been stymied largely by sanctions that aimed to prevent rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution.
Israel sees increased threat from Syria despite moderate tone of rebel leaders, defence minister says
The threats to Israel from Syria remain despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted president Bashar al-Assad a week ago, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, amid military moves by his country to counter such threats.
“The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared and the latest developments in Syria increase the strength of the threat – despite the moderate image that the rebel leaders claim to present,” Katz told officials examining the country’s defence budget, according to a statement.
Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, said on Saturday that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focuses on rebuilding, Reuters reported.
Sharaa – better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – leads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that swept Assad from power last Sunday, ending the family’s five-decade iron-fisted rule.
Simon Tisdall
United in duplicity, if nothing else, Russia, Iran, Turkey and the US – key external players in Syria’s long-running drama – all agreed. The country’s “sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity” must be respected and maintained, each separately declared last week after Bashar al-Assad’s sudden, welcome downfall.
Even Israel, recklessly bombing Syria to blazes in the Jewish state’s largest ever military operation, denied it was interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Such cynicism is breathtaking. Like ravening wolves, supposed friends and neighbours tug at the still twitching corpse of the deposed regime. Unchecked, they could tear Syria apart, again.
Importunate foreign powers also have this in common: they seemingly cannot abide the thought of Syria’s people independently charting their own future. Last week’s revolution – the overdue denouement of a popular revolt begun in 2011 – was ultimately achieved despite them and largely without outside help.
