Israel’s ambassador to Ireland has accused President Michael D. Higgins of making misleading comments after accusing him of breaking international law.
During his visit to Rome earlier this week, President Higgins spoke to reporters several times about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, reports RTE.
Higgins 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 said the president was misled in his comments.
Dana Ehrlich, who presented her credentials to President Higgins last month, expressed “concerned about spreading misinformation”.
“Israel is abiding by international law,” she said, reports RTE.
“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,” a spokesperson for Michael D Higgins said, reports RTE.
Environment Minister and Green Party leader Eamonn Ryan rejected claims that Ireland is not neutral, saying Ireland represents all innocent people affected by the conflict.
In a speech on RTÉ Magazine’s Politics Week, Mr Ryan said it was wrong to say that just because Ireland sympathizes with Israeli victims means we cannot sympathize with Palestinian victims.
Labour Party leader Ivan Bakic said the position of Israel’s ambassador “is now under question” after what she described as “outrageous” criticism of President Higgins’ comments in Gaza.
“The President has said nothing more than what [Government] has been saying,” she said, reports RTE.
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