Irish Examiner view: Ireland stands firm in the face of Israeli bullying
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The decision by the Israeli government to shutter its embassy with Ireland because of the Irish Government’s alleged “anti-Israeli policies” seems, on the one hand, to be a reprimand for continued Irish questioning of the murderous war in Gaza and Lebanon, which had seen the Government come under pressure to expel the Israeli ambassador here. It refused to do so, when the easy route might have been to acquiesce to opposition parties at the time.
On the other, it could well simply be a cost-cutting and budgetary act cloaked as a diplomatic rebuke.
After all, just three months ago, Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that to fund Israel’s ongoing military actions, he planned some €9bn in broad spending cuts in 2025.
And the accusation by the former Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, that there is an “anti-Israeli obsession” here and that the “Irish Government advancing antisemitic measures” does not hold water.
Certainly, Ireland has recognised Palestinian statehood and sought to join a South African lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza, but to equate this to the “delegitimisation” Ireland is accused of with regard to Israel is simply incorrect.
Ms Erlich’s assertion that her time in this country was characterised by “an anti-Israel obsession” and that there “was competition [to see] who could make the most extreme anti-Israel statements” ignored the fact that opposition to the war has brought tens of thousands of protestors onto the streets of Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities on an almost daily basis since the conflict began.
The assertion by former foreign minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid, that the decision to close the Dublin embassy is “a victory for antisemitism and anti-Israel organisations” is closer to the truth.
Despite its stance on Ireland, Israel is keen not to pick a fight with the EU, which is its largest trading partner, and is unlikely therefore to shut down the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv for fear of provoking a reaction from Brussels.
Calls by Israelis, predominantly on social media, for boycotts of Ireland and Irish goods will nevertheless intensify.
The Irish stance on the war in Gaza has been reasoned and humanitarian-based.
It has been steadfast and resolute, and should remain so in the face of attempted Israeli bullying.
The unmitigated logistical nightmare caused by the closure of Holyhead ferry port has posed a number of questions for this country going forward.
Aside altogether from the immediate issues of getting passengers, freight, and post from Britain to Ireland in time for Christmas — most of which are currently being addressed — questions now have to be asked as to why this country relies so heavily on one single piece of infrastructure — which, as we have seen, if indisposed, could have such a knock-on effect.
The damage caused during Storm Darragh to one of the ‘dolphins’ used to buffer ships while berthing at Holyhead is not likely to fixed before Christmas — indeed nobody knows how long the work might take — and the port facilities will remain shuttered until it is repaired.
While the Irish and Welsh authorities, as well as the ferry companies, logistics operators, and other interested parties have worked feverishly to open new routes from Britain to Ireland and to end the backlog at Holyhead, questions remain as to how an island nation such as ours could be so heavily dependent on one facility.
It seems ludicrous for us to be so reliant on a single port for so much of our necessary imports and especially so when there other viable and obvious options available, such as Fishguard, Birkenhead, Swansea, and Cairnryan (to name a few).
The absence of a ferry service between Cork and Britain is also pertinent right now.
This is something that needs to be closely looked at in the aftermath of what could easily be considered a “near miss” for the Irish economy and it is one the new government, along with all of the interested parties, should quickly address.
For many children across the globe, Christmas is an enchanting time, full of magical surprises and wonderous feats — not least the ability of Santa Claus to visit every single household to dispense generosity and goodwill in equal measure.
The myths surrounding the jolly man from the North Pole are consequently an essential part of our rites of passage and sometimes the true facts of the matter turn out to be shocking and traumatic when they are eventually revealed.
For a vicar in Hampshire, England, to have used what was ostensibly a lecture on the history of Christ’s birth to reveal to a class of 10- and 11-year-olds some of those truths was a grave and unforgivable blunder.
Rev Paul Chamberlain of the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth has admitted to an “error of judgement” in relation to his lecture on the Nativity at the Lee-on-the-Solent junior school, in which certain assertions about Santa Claus left pupils “gasping".
To land such a sickening blow to these children was certainly an error of judgement.
Perhaps he should write to Santa himself to try and explain to the great man himself the error of his ways. A note to Santa Claus, PO Box 1, North Pole, should reach him.