Ireland’s ambassador in Tel Aviv, Israel has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of an Irish-Israeli girl who was taken hostage by Hamas.
Government figures have described the move by Israel as an “overreaction”.
It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's comments, in which he said “an innocent child who was lost has now been found” after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped, adding the comments were an attempt to “legitimise and normalise terror”.
Referring to Mr Varadkar, Mr Cohen posted on X: “Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!
“Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.
“Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!”
Irish Ministers have described Israel’s decision to summon and reprimand Ireland’s ambassador Sonya McGuinness as an “overreaction”.
On Sunday, Mr Varadkar said: “I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.”
He told RTÉ that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding “that’s all that really matters”.
This is the full statement I issued yesterday regarding the release of Emily Hand pic.twitter.com/v6N6bmbbmo
Advertisement— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 26, 2023
Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministry’s director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.
According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin following the release of Emily Hand.
A spokesperson said: “These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
“In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emily’s release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli government.”
The ambassador also reiterated Ireland’s “unequivocal position” that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.
She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting “desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza”.
Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in “peace and security as neighbours”.
