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Holocaust Education Trust Ireland accused of adopting a ‘hostile’ relationship to Israel
Row over Shoah memorial event continues following announcement of President Higgins as keynote speaker
January 23, 2025 12:54
Row over Shoah memorial event continues following announcement of President Higgins as keynote speaker
January 23, 2025 12:54Jewish community leaders in Ireland have accused the Irish Holocaust Education Trust of “hostility” to Israel and “reneging” on a decade-long agreement with the Israeli embassy.
For the first time in ten years, the Israeli ambassador to Ireland has not been invited to speak at this year’s Holocaust Memorial event in Dublin.
The Jewish state closed its embassy in the country last year, accusing Irish government of implementing “extreme anti-Israel policies” but Dana Erlich officially remains in post as ambassador, despite being recalled in May.
She is said to be questioning the organisers of the event, the Holocaust Education Trust, over the decision not to invite an Israeli representative.
The controversy comes after the JC revealed that President Michael D Higgins is set to deliver the keynote speech at the event on January 26, prompting outcry from senior members of the Jewish community.
Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said Higgins "has neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it.”
“I fear his address marking Holocaust Memorial Day will inevitably ring hollow for many Irish Jews,” he added.
Chair of the Jewish Representative Council Maurice Cohen said that he does not believe the ambassador’s lack of invitation was solely due to the closure of the Dublin embassy.
“There still is an ambassador and there’s a deputy ambassador and the ambassador, I understand, was quite willing to do a video speech,” he said.
But the row over the Shoah memorial event precedes October 7 and the war in Gaza.
A similar argument erupted a decade ago when the ambassador was not invited to the memorial, sparking uproar from the community. Cohen claimed that an agreement signed between HET and the Israeli embassy at the time stipulated that the ambassador would be invited to speak each year thereafter to avoid controversy.
A representative for Israel has spoken at the event each year since, until now.
Cohen alleged that not inviting the ambassador to speak “reneges” on that agreement and “underscores the lack of understanding of the role of Israel both after the Second World War up until today with regards to Holocaust survivors”.
He added: “It is our sincere hope that those responsible for organising the Holocaust Memorial event will acknowledge the importance of ensuring an inclusive commemoration—one that honours both the legacy of the survivors and the central place of Israel in Jewish communal life worldwide.
“We urge the organisers to address this regrettable omission and to invite the Israeli ambassador or her nominee to speak, thereby reaffirming a collective commitment to remembrance and unity.”
Irish lawyer and former minister of justice, Alan Shatter, joined the condemnation, saying: “Holocaust Education Ireland is the only Holocaust Remembrance group hostile towards Israel. This is sadly an historical issue entirely disconnected from recent conflicts that has never been publicly explained by its board members.
“It is regrettable that the behaviour of HEl has generated unnecessary upset and controversy and tainted a solemn event that should be devoted to the remembrance of the six million Jewish people and other minorities mercilessly slaughtered by Nazi Germany.”
Holocaust Education Ireland said in a statement that all ambassadors were invited to attend the memorial at Mansion House.
"Israel recalled its ambassador to Ireland on 22 May 2024," a spokesperson said.
"On 3 December 2024 HEI sent letters of invitation to all ambassadors, inviting them to attend the national Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration.
"On 15 December 2024, Israel announced it was closing its embassy in Dublin."