Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in comments made to the press following the funeral for Pope Francis on Saturday.
President Higgins 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 women and children.”
He went on to say that it is “outrageous” that those who critique the Israeli government’s policies are labelled antisemitic. “Many people in Israel do oppose those policies,” President Higgins added.
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
President Higgins called it a “great lie” to suggest that those who oppose Israel’s military action in Gaza are supporting Hamas.
“Today, we’ve had a wonderful gathering here in Rome of representatives of Government and State,” President Higgins added. “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’ own concept of ‘indifference’ that’s what he meant,” he continued.
Netanyahu’s absence from funeral, Israel’s response to Pope’s death
President 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 war in Gaza.
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 and the 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 President Michael Higgins 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, President Higgins dismissed Israeli accusations of ingrained antisemitism in Ireland as “deep slander,” statements made after the Israeli Foreign Ministry closed its embassy in Ireland because of “actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel.”
Along with the announcement of the embassy’s closure, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a Sunday statement 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.
Michael Starr and Corrine Baum contributed to this story.
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