A recent survey commissioned by the Hungarian Jewish organization Foundation for Action and Defense reflects the severity of antisemitism in modern-day Europe.
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The poll – which was conducted across 16 European countries – showed that 21% of respondents, mostly from Greece, Poland, and Hungary, believed the interests of the country's Jews were different from those of the general population. They were also of the opinion that there existed a secret Jewish network that influences worldwide politics and economy.
Moreover, 17% of participants said that in their opinion, Jews would never fully integrate into the societies they live in. Another 8% said they preferred if Jews left their countries.
Twenty-seven percent said that by looking at Israel they understood why Jews were hated and another 26% believed Israel was treating the Palestinians no better than Nazis treated the Jews during World War II. Another 15% said the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement was legitimate.
Notably, one European country that was not included in the survey was Ireland, an EU member whose government policies are steeped with antisemitism and criticism of Israel.
Nevertheless, a report recently published by British investigative journalist David Collier on the state of antisemitism in Ireland reveals the dire situation.
Having analyzed hundreds of social media posts from leading Irish anti-Israel activists, Collier unequivocally stated that Jew-hatred is widespread in Ireland, including in the government, in stark contacts to Britain and the United States. Such "top-down" discrimination spreads from elected officials to the people and is not the result of pressure on behalf of the constituents. The report listed names of Irish officials who consistently single out Israel and criticize its government.
Irish politicians share the content of extreme antisemitic social media accounts that are clearly untrue, the report said. For instance, one Irish parliament member liked a post that stated Hitler "'may have not been too far wrong."
The following question was recently posed to Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney by left-wing PM Catherine Connolly: Is your ministry's support of Israel's Jewish character not tantamount to taking part in the discrimination against Palestinians?
The foreign minister provided Connolly with an answer but failed to call her out on her antisemitism.
Coveney is scheduled to visit Israel on an official visit in November. The relations between Israel and Ireland are strained, so much so that the Israeli Foreign Ministry talked of closing down its embassy in Dublin.
It is highly unlikely that Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will confront Coveney on the issue of state antisemitism in Ireland during their upcoming meeting. However, the Irish official is also slated to meet with President Isaac Herzog, whose paternal grandfather was the chief rabbi of Ireland. He must take advantage of this connection to get the Irish foreign minister to face, at last, the problem of state antisemitism in his country.
After all, Ireland is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and should therefore be committed to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which states that calling Israel's existence racist and applying double standards to Israel are examples of antisemitism.
And if the president's efforts are unsuccessful, Israel should seriously consider severing ties with Ireland, where antisemitism and hatred of Israel have become institutionalized.
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