Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in remarks made to journalism following the funeral service for Pope Francis on Saturday.
President Higgins stated it was not incorrect to “slam a prime minister who is reinforcing an army that remains in breach of worldwide humanitarian law, and lots of other elements of worldwide law, if there is no regard for civilian rights, in addition to ladies and kids.”
He went on to state that it is “outrageous” that those who review the Israeli federal government’s policies are identified antisemitic. “Lots of people in Israel do oppose those policies,” President Higgins included.
He simply could not assist himself! Michael Higgins, the little antisemitic leprechaun and President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) selected the event of Pope Francis funeral service, to introduce into a tirade versus Israel and PM Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Kv4GJH5gh4
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 26, 2025
President Higgins called it a “terrific lie” to recommend that those who oppose Israel’s military action in Gaza are supporting Hamas.
” Today, we have actually had a terrific event here in Rome of agents of federal government and state,” President Higgins included. “How could any of them stay quiet then, if you are, in reality, really starving individuals to death by obstructing food, obstructing medications, obstructing the fundamental water itself, the fundamental requirements of life?”
” Have we end up being numb? I believe when you think about Francis’ own idea of ‘indifference’, that’s what he indicated,” he continued.
Netanyahu’s lack from funeral service, Israel’s reaction to Pope’s death
President Higgins appeared to discuss Netanyahu’s lack from the pope’s funeral service, stating, “It’s really substantial not just who is at the occasion today, however who is missing out on,” before making more remarks concerning Netanyahu’s management and the war in Gaza.
Neither Netanyahu nor any senior Israeli authorities remained in participation at the funeral service after Israel chose to send out just its ambassador to the Vatican.
This followed debate over the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s removal of acknowledgement tweets that had actually been published on its main accounts quickly after the pope’s death. The acknowledgement messages were eliminated within hours, and the directions were apparently provided to all Israeli diplomatic objectives to erase associated posts.
Higgins, Ireland, and antisemitism
Irish Jewish leaders questioned a choice to have President Michael Higgins offer the keynote address at the 2025 Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony in January, due to issues that he has actually disregarded antisemitism within the nation.
Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder alerted that Higgins’s speech might “call hollow for lots of Irish Jews” after he had actually “ignored even to acknowledge the scourge of modern antisemitism in Ireland, not to mentioned do anything to resolve it.”
In 2015, President Higgins dismissed Israeli allegations of deep-rooted antisemitism in Ireland as “deep slander,” declarations made after the Israeli Foreign Ministry closed its embassy in Ireland since of “actions and antisemitic rhetoric utilized by Ireland versus Israel.”
In addition to the statement of the embassy’s closure, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated in a Sunday declaration that he thought Ireland’s actions and rhetoric delegitimized and demonized the Jewish state.
” Ireland has actually crossed every red line in its relations with Israel,” he stated.
Michael Starr and Corrine Baum added to this story.