Is Israel's diplomatic isolation in Europe growing?

Even if a two-state solution in the Middle East seems further away than ever, for Ireland's government, it remains the country's official goal. It had even been physically tangible for five weeks when Israelis and Palestinians each maintained their own embassy less than two kilometers apart in Dublin.

After Ireland recognized a Palestinian state in May, the base of its delegation, an inconspicuous Georgian townhouse with a red-painted door, turned into a full-fledged embassy headed by Palestinian diplomat Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid.

Then Israel recalled its ambassador, Dana Erlich, in protest.

Now, Erlich's former place of work, a six-story brick building protected by metal fences and cameras, seems to be no longer needed at all. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who took office last month, on Sunday announced the Israeli Embassy to Ireland would close.

'Pompous political act'

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat in the US and bureau chief at Israel's Foreign Ministry, called Saar's move hard to understand.

"This was a grandstanding, a pompous political act, nothing more, nothing less," he told DW.

"Israel did not sever diplomatic ties with Ireland, it just shut down its embassy, which is by definition a temporary thing," Pinkas said, highlighting that "the Irish maintained their embassy in Israel and the formal diplomatic relations are still intact."

In his view, the reason is directly linked to Israel's relatively new foreign minister.

"An utterly inexperienced foreign minister who wants to make some headlines chose probably the weakest target," Pinkas said.

Jeremy Issacharoff, who served as Israeli ambassador to Berlin from 2017 until 2022, also criticized the decision.

"I would have found a balance between signalling our displeasure but also finding a way to maintain a dialogue," Issacharoff told DW, adding that there were valid reasons for a more measured response.

"There's a Jewish community in Ireland, there's a number of Israelis who live there and work in high-tech fields, there's trade between the two countries, also they are a member of the EU," he said.

However, he also sees that Ireland carries a part of the responsibility.

"The government of Ireland for its part should make a much greater effort to enable a broader and more tolerant dialogue with respect to Israel and moderate its almost automatic criticism of all that Israel does without reference to the dire threats it has to contend with since October 7," Issacharoff said.

Irish PM: Israeli Embassy closure 'deeply regrettable'

Last week, Ireland joined the South African genocide lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said, "There has been a collective punishment of the Palestinian people through the intent and impact of military actions of Israel in Gaza, leaving 44,000 dead and millions of civilians displaced."

In turn, Saar closed the embassy in Dublin.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the decision to close the embassy "deeply regrettable."

On the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, he wrote that "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."

In turn, Saar accused Harris of antisemitism.

"The actions, double standards, and antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government against Israel are rooted in efforts to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state," he wrote on X.

Ireland's Palestinian ambassador, Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, said she had a different impression of Ireland's stance.

"What I witness is that all Irish government actions are fully in line with the ICJ ruling and its commitments to abide by the international and humanitarian law and UN resolutions," she wrote in an email to DW, adding that "Ireland's position must not be distorted or linked to unmeaningful or unrelated stances or labelling."

Instead, she pointed out that an ICJ ruling in July had called on Israel to moderate its actions.

Irish-Palestinian identity ties

The Irish population also largely identifies with the Palestinians. 

"Leaders often ask me why the Irish have such empathy for the Palestinian people," former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on a visit to Washington in March. "And the answer is simple: We see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement, of dispossession, national identity questioned or denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now, hunger."

Irish sympathy for Palestinians began as early as 1917, when Britain called in the Balfour Declaration for a Jewish homeland in what was then Ottoman-controlled Palestine and what would become British Mandate Palestine.

The declaration's namesake, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, was an opponent of Irish self-governance. Some units of the brutal British police force, known as the Black and Tans, who suppressed Irish independence, were even sent to British Mandate Palestine. 

At times, however, there was also sympathy between the Irish and Zionists, who both opposed British rule, before the UK proposed the division of Palestine into a Jewish and a Palestinian state in 1937.

In 1921, after a war of independence, Britain agreed to divide the island of Ireland into the indepedent Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, which continued to be administered from London.

From the 1960s onwards, British security forces repressed republicans based there with increasing brutality.

In the decades that followed, more and more Irish people drew parallels with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

Ireland recognized the Israeli state in 1963 and has been calling for a two-state solution for the Middle East since the 1980s.

Dublin condemned the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and has called for the release of the hostages.

At the same time, Ireland has criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza war and called for an immediate ceasefire and more humanitarian aid.

Waning Israeli influence in Europe?

While the closure of the embassy is directly linked to Ireland's ICJ announcement, the move is unlikely to make Israel's already complicated relations with the EU any easier.

Ireland was not the only European country to recognize a Palestinian state this year. So did Spain, Slovenia and non-EU member Norway.

The former ambassador Pinkas points out that the EU would be in a position to exert pressure on Israel on many levels.

"There is an association agreement. There are a lot of things like academic and medical research funds and foundations that funnel funds to Israel," he told DW, adding that "this means that there are a lot of things that the EU could do to complicate things if Israel's takes it a step further. I hope it doesn't get to that."

This article was originally published in German.