The Israeli Ambassador to Ireland has accused President Michael D Higgins of making misinformed comments after he accused Israel of breaking international law.
He said it was important to retain and insist on the veracity and cogency of international law.
The President said: "To announce in advance that you will break international law and to do so on an innocent population, it reduces all the code that was there from second world war on protection of civilians and it reduces it to tatters."
In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Israel's Ambassador to Ireland claimed the President was misinformed in his remarks.
Dana Erlich, who last month presented her credentials to President Higgins, said she is "concerned about spreading misinformation".
"Israel is abiding by international law," she said.
🇮🇱🇮🇪Ambassador Erlich looks forward to a productive tenure to help facilitate stronger relations between #Israel and #Ireland. pic.twitter.com/4Doo4rhNLp
— Israel in Ireland (@IsraelinIreland) September 20, 2023
A spokesperson for President Higgins said his comments "related to the breach of international law that attacking civilians as collective punishment represents".
"The President has condemned all of the outrages and killings that have taken place and said that in responding to all of this it is important that international law is observed," the spokesperson said.
In a statement, the spokesperson said the President has "expressed his revulsion at the killing of civilians by Hamas, called for the immediate release of all hostages taken and has been clear that we must be absolutely unequivocal about anti-Semitic expression."
In the newspaper interview, the Israeli Ambassador also questioned Ireland's neutrality.
Ms Erlich said "there is a strong feeling in Israel that there is an unconscious bias against Israel in Ireland."
'Standing up for all'
Minister for the Environment and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan rejected the claim that Ireland is not neutral, saying Ireland is standing up for all innocent people affected by the conflict.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr Ryan said it is simply not true to say because Ireland has sympathy for Israeli victims means we cannot also have sympathy for Palestinian victims.
Mr Ryan said Ireland "absolutely condemns Hamas" and has full sympathy for the "the history of Israelis".
However, he added that "that doesn't mean you don't also stand up for the Palestinian people".
Mr Ryan said "the bombing of civilians in Gaza is not going to achieve anything other than strife" in the region, and that Ireland is sympathetic to anyone caught up in the conflict.
Labour Party leader Ivan Bacik said the Israeli Ambassador’s position "is now under question" after what she described as "outrageous" criticism of President Higgins' Gaza comments.
Speaking on the same programme, Ms Bacik defended President Higgins and said "he did have a right" to raise the issue.
"The President has said nothing more than what [Government] has been saying," she said.
Ms Bacik continued that in her view the ambassador "has overstepped the line, I think it [the Israeli ambassador's comment] was outrageous".
"She accused him of breaking the law, of saying something that was untrue, and I think her position is now under question," the Labour leader added.
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