Over the past couple of months, Irish people have gotten used to hearing exceptionally strongly worded denunciations of the State of Israel from their Taoiseach and other members of the Government. On February 16th, for example, Mr. Varadkar told the Dáil (without any evidence, it should be said) that Israel was “no longer a normal democracy”. Three days earlier, he described Israel as “blinded by rage”. Back in December, he said that the European Union had a “double standard” on Gaza, saying that the EU was losing credibility by not taking a tougher stand against the Israelis.
It was not just Mr. Varadkar. His one-time rival for the Fine Gael leadership, now Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, used language rarely heard in diplomatic circles outside of the most anti-Israeli of the Arab states, calling Israel a “monster” on February 13th, and a “rogue state” for good measure. Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has repeatedly accused Israel of breaking international law. I could go on, and no doubt, some readers will agree with all of the statements quoted above.
In recent weeks the Irish Government has launched a quixotic and entirely doomed to fail effort, joined by the Spanish, to effectively impose sanctions on Israel by abolishing the EU-Israeli trade agreement, an effort so entirely out of step with EU opinion as to already have been largely forgotten, having been greeted with awkward and embarrassed silence in most EU capitals, just weeks after it was launched. You simply will not find a western democracy whose leader has been more partisan in the cause of the Palestinians than Mr. Varadkar and Ireland.
Of course, Ireland is a tiny little country of no great influence on world affairs. Our claims to international significance have largely rested – at least in our own telling – on the idea that Irish opinion carries great weight both in Brussels and in Washington DC, and that when our leaders speak, they have a chance to prick the conscience of the mighty American beast and appeal to the better angels of its nature.
As to how that’s going, I’ll let you have a sample of the excellent reporting of Christina Finn, political correspondent at the Journal, who is following Mr. Varadkar and his baggage train around the American Capitol this week:
“However, such hard-hitting language was omitted from the Ireland Funds speech last night, an event which attracts high-hitters in American business and power-brokers, such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senators and Congressman from both sides of the aisle in US politics.
It wasn’t just the Taoiseach that failed to hammer home the message when it came to Palestine.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill, alongside deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly made remarks at the gala.
The Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist Party pairing took centre stage at the event on Wednesday evening and were strong in delivering a message that Northern Ireland is “open for business”.
However, O’Neill made passing remarks about the Middle East, in a more understated manner than would be typical of Sinn Fein on the issue of Palestine back home…..
…..While both Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald stated prior to making the journey stateside this year that they would use the trip to advocate for the Palestinians, there was no hard-hitting uncomfortable truths mentioned, no powerful statements on the atrocities happening in Gaza said with any conviction.”
It is difficult, in all honesty, to know whether to be amused or disgusted.
Amused, because it’s another instance of our leaders passively admitting something in their actions that they cannot say with their words: That Ireland’s stance on Gaza – whether it is morally correct or incorrect – is politically toxic in the United States, and especially amongst the kind of politicians, moderate Democrats and Irish-American Republicans – that this country most relies upon for its alleged clout in Washington DC.
Nancy Pelosi, for example, one of Ireland’s most reliable friends on Capitol Hill, has recently described activism for a ceasefire in Gaza on the US left as being a Russian influence operation: “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these—some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
That was Pelosi, speaking about people saying broadly the same things that Mr. Varadkar says at home. Perhaps in his wisdom, he decided that it was unwise for the leader of the Irish nation to sound like what Mrs. Pelosi imagines a KGB stooge to sound like. That’s why Mr. Varadkar and the First Minister of Northern Ireland went from sounding like Al Jazeera opinion writers to sounding like mainstream “give peace a chance” Europeans, once the lights went on. It’s quite funny.
It’s also quite disgusting, because it suggests that the deeply held convictions of Irish politicians on this issue are not quite so deeply held after all. Ranting about Israel in the Dáil isn’t going to make any difference whatsoever to events in Gaza, and say what you want about Washington, but a strong speech from the Irish Taoiseach would at least have raised eyebrows and perhaps started a debate, if that’s what the Government really wants. Apparently it is not.
Which raises a question: Who is the pro-Palestinian ranting in the Dáil really aimed at? Is it sincere, or is it shameless pandering to a small section of the Irish electorate in the overt knowledge that none of this really makes a difference?
You know the answer, I think. Because you know our politicians.