Israel is trying to “accomplish Jewish supremacy,” deputy chairperson of the lower house of Ireland’s parliament Catherine Connolly wrote in a parliamentary question this month.
The term “Jewish supremacy” is an accusation lobbed at Israel by its opponents, with ties to centuries-old antisemitic accusations of Jews trying to take over the world, similar to the notorious libel The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Connolly presented Israeli “Jewish supremacy” as a fact, asking Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney if by his ministry’s “indicating support for the Jewish character of the Israeli state agrees with the treatment by Israel of Palestinian communities in its attempts to accomplish Jewish supremacy.”
She also asked Coveney “his views on whether these attempts to perpetuate the supremacy of Jews over Palestinians amount to apartheid, and if he will make a statement on the matter.”
Coveney said he “respect[s] the strong connection between the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
“By their very nature, all states have certain inherent characteristics,” he added, bringing “socialist, democratic, united, Islamic, Arab or Jewish” as examples, but said that those states should have “full respect for the equal rights of all citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or other similar factors.”
Coveney said that Ireland often raises its concerns about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.Ireland is one of the countries most critical of Israel in Europe and was one of only two EU countries to participate in the anti-Israel Durban Conference at the UN last month.
Jewish Representative Council of Ireland chairperson Maurice Cohen said Connolly “strayed into classic antisemitic language by perpetuating the trope of ‘Jewish supremacy.’”
Cohen referred to a 200-page study released by researcher David Collier last week, indicating rampant antisemitism in Ireland.“The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland urges all political parties, as well as both Houses of the Oireachtas [legislature] to immediately adopt the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism to which the government is already a European signatory,” Cohen said.
He also pointed out that 47 countries signed a UN Human Rights Council pledge to fight antisemitism this month, but Ireland was not one of them, and that Dublin has not yet appointed an envoy on antisemitism to the European Commission, despite the EC requesting it do so years ago.
“The need for the above measures is urgent,” Cohen stated.