Binyamin Netanyahu visited Dublin years before he became Israeli prime minister, in a bid to establish a diplomatic presence in the capital.
The Israeli embassy is now in the process of closing under the direction of his administration.
In February 1990 Netanyahu was the deputy foreign minister in the Likud government while Ireland held the presidency of the European Community.
Files released by the National Archives in Dublin show that the Department of Foreign Affairs prepared a brief resumé of Netanyahu’s career, so that officials could familiarise themselves with a man who would become a defining figure in Israeli politics. His meeting with the Irish foreign affairs minister, Gerry Collins, took place in Dublin on February 21, 1990.
Netanyahu suggested that there was a “natural
