Why Does Ireland Hate Israel So Much?

By David Quinn, The Wall Street Journal/Free Expression Sept. 23, 2026

Ireland and Israel will face off in a men’s soccer match in Hungary on Sunday. The Nations League game was supposed to be played in Ireland, but such is the hostility between the two countries that it must take place at a neutral venue instead. A second match will take place in Serbia rather than Israel the following Sunday.

The Football Association of Ireland doesn’t want to play at all. It wants the Union of European Football Associations, or UEFA, to boot Israel from the 55-member organization. Only Turkey and Norway share the Irish position.

Ireland’s manager, Icelander Heimir Hallgrímsson, is under enormous pressure to bow to the anti-Israeli hysteria that pervades Ireland. A few days ago he fully succumbed, telling journalists, “We’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide.”

The Israeli Football Association hit back. In a post on X on Monday, it reminded the public of how many Nobel Prizes have been won by Jewish people, and then added: “Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for [the] stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by @IrelandFootball team coach.”

This is only the latest in a series of rows between Ireland and Israel. In the days after the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, no Israeli flags flew in solidarity outside public buildings anywhere in Ireland. Many politicians began displaying the Palestinian colors instead. Ireland’s public broadcaster, RTE, boycotted this year’s Eurovision Song Contest because of Israeli participation. Only four other countries out of the 57 eligible followed suit. RTE intends to boycott the event again next year.

The row over Ed Sheeran and Macklemore was a huge story in Ireland because Mr. Sheeran has Irish roots. Numerous Irish artists came out in support of Macklemore. Greg Ennis, deputy secretary of the union representing RTE employees, praised those condemning Mr. Sheeran. “Silence is treachery,” Mr. Ennis said.

There’s certainly widespread antipathy toward Israel among the Irish public, but it’s much more intense among those with the most influence, including politicians, media, artists, academics and sporting bodies.

The hostility of official Ireland stands out in Europe. Before Israel closed its embassy in Dublin last year, Israeli diplomats would quietly tell you that they regarded Ireland as the worst diplomatic posting in Europe. There are almost no politicians they can ever work with, and that was before the Gaza war. There are no friendly media.

Why is Ireland so anti-Israel, and why does the feeling of hostility go back decades? Irish history explains most of it. Ireland was occupied by Britain for centuries and most Irish people liken the Palestinians to themselves, and particularly to the Catholics of Northern Ireland. They liken Israel to Britain.

This startles a lot of Israelis. Surely if anyone was like the dispossessed Irish, it was the Jews, historically speaking? During the early days of the struggle for a Jewish state, leading figures such as future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir took heart from Ireland’s successful fight for independence from Britain. Shamir’s nom de guerre was “Michael,” after Michael Collins, one of the leaders of the old Irish Republican Army and a member of Sinn Féin.

Ironically, Sinn Féin has done more than anyone to fan the anti-Israeli flames in Ireland. It sees itself as part of the international “anti-imperialist” struggle. Its condemnations of Israel and Zionism are regular and vociferous. In this, there’s nothing to separate Sinn Féin from the likes of Zohran Mamdani in the U.S.

Does it ultimately matter what the Irish think? It might, and for Ireland more than Israel. The Irish economy is extremely dependent on investment from American multinational corporations. Many of these large companies make regular decisions about whether future investment should go to Ireland or some other country. Who’s to say how the hostility toward Israel might weigh in some American boardrooms? If decisions go against Ireland, then its anti-Israel chickens will have come home to roost.

Mr. Quinn is an Irish writer who contributes regularly to the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and Sunday Times.