FALCON POWERS – Irish Deputy Prime Minister Michael Martin Friday described Israel’s “reprimand” of his country’s ambassador as “completely unacceptable,” after Dublin announced steps to recognize the Palestinian state.
Ireland, Norway and Spain announced on Wednesday that they will officially recognize the state of Palestine on May 28, and Israel immediately pledged to take countermeasures.
Irish ambassador Sonia McGuinness and ambassadors from Spain and Norway were summoned on Thursday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it presented them with a video showing the abduction of five female conscripts during the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, which led to the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Martin, who is also Ireland’s foreign minister, told reporters “I find this completely unacceptable and it is not a way to treat diplomats, and it is outside the norm by which diplomats are treated in any country.”
He considered that the screening of the video to the ambassador in front of the Israeli media was something “that has not been witnessed by any country before.”
He stressed that “most people will agree internationally that this does not fall within the acceptable standards in terms of how people deal with diplomats.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said the video was shown as part of an official diplomatic protest.
Israeli officials have repeatedly criticized the three countries. Katz described their decision as a “gold medal for the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped our daughters and burned infants.”
