by Geoff Vasil
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar announced last Sunday Israel was closing its embassy to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin due to extreme anti-Israeli policies by the Irish Government.
On Tuesday in a heated phone call with Australia’s hard-left pro-Palestinian foreign minister Penny Wong, she berated Sa’ar for Israel not doing more to advance humanitarian aid to Gaza, even while Hamas there continues to hold between 50 and 100 hostages, mostly Israeli citizens but also including American passport holders. Sa’ar responded by demanding immediate action following the fire bombing of the Adass Shul synagogue in Melbourne.
Since October 7, 2023, hard-left Australian PM Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Wong have refused to address growing anti-Semitism in the island nation, and have made it their job to tell Israel how to make peace with Hamas and Hezbollah. In addition, police have consistently allowed public demonstrations openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, both recognized by Australia as terrorist organizations. Further, Wong and Albanese cooked up a scheme to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza by offering them Australian tourist visas with easy conditions. More recently Australia barred entry to a former Israeli education minister scheduled to address a Jewish audience there. In the past two weeks Australia has increased restrictions on visa applications by Israelis and now demands to know whether the applicant has served in the Israeli military, whether they have been party to war crimes, and so on.
Sa’ar’s actions came in response to two recent votes in the UN General Assembly for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state. Ireland and Australia voted in favor of both. Lithuania voted for the ceasefire resolution but abstained on Palestinian statehood. When Sa’ar announced the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin, he also announced Israel would open an embassy in the Moldovan capital Kishniau.
In Montreal in the heart of French Canada a synagogue was firebombed early Wednesday morning local time and an adjacent Jewish community center had its glass door smashed. The fire at Congregation Beth Tikvah was quickly extinguished and the Federation CJA building across the street only suffered a broken window and glass door. Beth Tikvah and the CJA building were also firebombed in November of 2023, causing minor damage to the synagogue’s front door and the back door of the CJA office.