Is Ireland the most anti-Semitic country in Europe? Most Irish people would vehemently disagree. But if you asked: ‘is Ireland the most anti-Israeli country in Europe?’ then many people here would actually take the question as a compliment. Hating Israel is not just acceptable in Ireland, it has become virtually mandatory.
The latest evidence for this took place at a county council meeting in Dublin on 7 October, the anniversary of the Hamas pogrom. A Fine Gael councillor, Punam Rane, engaged in one of the oldest tropes in the book when she claimed that: ‘The entire US economy is ruled by the Jews, by Israel.’
Matters reached joyously absurd levels earlier this week when Cork County Council passed a motion banning Bibi Netanyahu from entering Ireland’s second city
Taoiseach Simon Harris condemned her remarks and promised that the disciplinary process against her would be swift. More than week later, there has been no sanctions against her and she has kept her job.
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