There is no little irony in the fact that, after weeks of calls for the Israeli ambassador in Ireland to be expelled or otherwise sanctioned, it was the Irish ambassador in Tel Aviv who was summoned for a dressing down yesterday by the Israelis. The proximate cause of that summoning was this tweet by the Taoiseach, relating to Emily Hand, which has been viewed, at the time of writing, some 23million times and which has drawn condemnation and derision from the four corners of the globe:
This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023
We should, I think, be charitable enough to recognise that Leo Varadkar almost certainly meant no harm in his phrasing: “What was lost has now been found” is a phrase drawn directly from the biblical parable of the prodigal son, meant to signify joy at a reunion long delayed. Were it the first and only flub from an Irish official, it would probably have been given the benefit of the doubt.
What Irish people probably do not recall, because they probably didn’t notice it at the time, is that this is not the first such odd statement from an Irish leader. Some weeks ago, in the Dáil, the Tánaiste, Mr. Martin, accused Israel of having “an old testament mindset” in its war with Hamas in Gaza. In that case, the association of the only Jewish state on the planet with the old testament raised serious eyebrows in diplomatic circles in Dublin, and was the subject of some chatter amongst representatives of other EU countries and indeed those in North America.
In both cases, there was a feeling, especially felt keenly in Israel and in Jewish communities elsewhere in the world, that the Irish Government goes out of its way to avoid criticising Hamas. This may not be fair or true, but the feeling nevertheless exists.
What’s more, there is, your correspondent understands, not insignificant diplomatic laughter at the Irish Government’s domestic hinting that it may have played some significant role in securing Emily Hand’s release. Consider also this statement yesterday by Mr. Martin:
““I was struck by the strength and resilience with which he advocated for his daughter’s release. This is a message that I and my colleagues in government sought to amplify as we engaged internationally, through political, diplomatic and security channels, in a bid to secure Emily’s safe return.”
Martin also acknowledged the role played by the US, Qatar and Egypt in securing the release of hostages.”
You might notice, if you did not at first, that one of the countries which actually negotiated the ceasefire directly – Israel – does not get a mention. Presumably, one diplomat noted, because if the Irish Government thanked Israeli negotiators, there would have been a feeling that they should also thank Hamas negotiators, so it was best to mention neither. There have been those in diplomatic circles who have noted that had the Israeli Government listened to Dublin in recent weeks, and simply ceased fire unilaterally, Emily Hand would still be a hostage. For the Irish Government to claim even a smidgen of credit for her release is not something that has gone down well.
Emily Hand, obviously, was not “lost”. She was abducted and held hostage for 50 days, and then released by her captors in return for the release of some Palestinian prisoners, whose numbers include people convicted of stabbing children. Israel, in particular, feels it has paid a high price for her freedom. To have that then presented as if she had merely wandered into a Tesco and gotten mislaid has caused some upset.
In Ireland, and indeed amongst my own readers, there will be a temptation to defend Varadkar on this and believe that the Israelis are being overly sensitive. And in truth, by itself, Israeli sensitivities are not hugely relevant.
What is more relevant is the damage this kind of thing may do to Ireland in the eyes of other western nations. “We’re approaching web summit, but on a national scale”, was how one TD expressed their concerns to me yesterday.
Really, as a country, we have a right to expect a little better from our leaders. Pursuing a broadly pro-Palestinian policy is one thing – we have that in common with, amongst others, the Spanish and the Portuguese – but to accompany that policy with an overt and persistent tone-deafness to Israeli and Jewish sensitivities is frankly unwise, as well as unnecessary.
The Taoiseach, really, should apologise. It would be the decent thing to do. The problem is that doing so would cause him immense political pain as he was accused of bowing to the Israeli Government. That, in itself, is evidence perhaps that our issues on this front go well beyond the politicians.