It is “outrageous” that those who critique the Israeli government’s policies should be labeled as antisemitic, Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins said in a scathing criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In comments he made following Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, he said it was not wrong to “criticize a prime minister who is strengthening an army that is in breach of international humanitarian law and many other aspects of international law, if there is no respect for civilian rights, in addition to [those of] women and children.”
He said many people in Israel oppose Netanyahu’s policies, calling it a “great lie” to suggest that those who opposed Israel’s military action in Gaza supported Hamas.
He just couldn't help himself! Michael Higgins, the little antisemitic leprechaun and President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) chose the occasion of Pope Francis funeral, to launch into a tirade against Israel and PM Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Kv4GJH5gh4
— Arsen Ostrovsky ️ (@Ostrov_A) April 26, 2025
“Today, we’ve had a wonderful gathering here in Rome of representatives of government and state,” he said. “How could any of them remain silent then, if you are, in fact, actually starving people to death by blocking food, blocking medicines, blocking the basic water itself, the basic necessities of life?
“Have we become numb? I think when you think of Francis’s own concept of ‘indifference,’ that’s what he meant,” he continued.
Netanyahu's absence from funeral, Israel's response to Pope's death
Higgins appeared to comment on Netanyahu’s absence from the pope’s funeral, saying, “It’s very significant, not only who is at the event today but who is missing,” before making further comments regarding Netanyahu’s leadership and the Israel-Hamas War.
Neither Netanyahu nor any senior Israeli official was in attendance at the funeral after Israel decided to send only its ambassador to the Vatican.
This followed controversy over the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deletion of condolence tweets that had been posted on its official accounts shortly after the pope’s death. The condolence messages were removed within hours.
Instructions were reportedly given to all Israeli diplomatic missions to delete related posts.
Higgins, Ireland, and antisemitism
Irish Jewish leaders questioned a decision to have Higgins slated to give the keynote address at the 2025 Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration in January, in light of concerns that he has ignored antisemitism within the country.
Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder warned that Higgins’s speech may “ring hollow for many Irish Jews” after he had “neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it.”
Last year, Higgins dismissed Israeli accusations of ingrained antisemitism in Ireland as “deep slander” in statements made after the Foreign Ministry closed its embassy in Ireland because of “actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said when announcing the embassy’s closure in December 2024.
Sa’ar added that he believed Ireland’s actions and rhetoric delegitimized and demonized the Jewish state.“Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel,” he said at the time.
Michael Starr and Corinne Baum contributed to this story.