Israel to Close its Embassy in Ireland

Relations between Ireland and Israel over Palestine and Gaza reached an all-time low that Tel Aviv announced, Sunday, it will close down its Embassy in Dublin.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel is closing its embassy in Ireland in light of what he calls “the extreme anti-Israel policies pursued by the Irish government.”

Sa’ar implied the Israeli decision was expected because a few months ago Israel recalled its ambassador to Dublin Dana Erlich after Ireland’s unilateral decision to recognize a Palestinian state.

 Recently Ireland announced its support for South Africa’s legal action in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin was “deeply regrettable.”

On 28 May, Ireland announced its official recognition of the Palestinian state, and the Dublin government agreed to establish full diplomatic relations, in defiance of Israel, which denounced the plan.

As well last November, Harris said that Dublin would be prepared to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot in Ireland following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

The diplomatic row has been escalating between the two countries but Ireland has not recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

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Yossi Hadar: ‘Netanyahu Lost The War to Hamas’

Israeli political analyst Yossi Hadar, in the Jewish Maariv newspaper, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost the war to Hamas, and instead of signing a prisoner exchange deal with it, he is trying to drag Israel into a war of attrition that will keep him in power.

The analyst harshly criticized Netanyahu for trying to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Galant, describing it as a political move to preserve his position, ignoring the military failures in the Hamas attack of 7 October, 2023.

The writer began his article by referring to the operation attributed to Israel of blowing up the wireless devices in Lebanon and Syria, which resulted in the death of 32 Lebanese and the wounding of hundreds, according to the latest statistics.

“If the attribution of this operation to Israel is correct, it reveals another aspect of Israel’s enormous military capabilities, but at the same time it could bring us closer to a real war with Hezbollah, while the war in Gaza continues, the Houthis attacks on Israel, and Iranian threats continue, with operations growing in the West Bank and inside Israel,” he added.

The analyst accused Netanyahu of deliberately prolonging the war for political reasons, ignoring the serious security implications for Israel, and described him as the most failed prime minister in Israel, and that he “is leading an approach of political baseness and exhaustion and implementing a Machiavellian plot aimed at tightening control over the country by pushing the public to despair.”

Hadar stressed that Netanyahu’s escalation in the north is “the way Netanyahu seeks to maintain his rule, not in order to do something beneficial for the citizens of Israel, but only for his personal and political interests, just so he can continue to exhaust us.”

Political Maneuver

The writer then went on to assert that Netanyahu’s attempt to dismiss Galant is part of a political maneuver aimed at strengthening his power, rather than addressing the military failures that were evident in the 7 October attack, which puts Israel in a weak position in the face of the growing threats.

“All this does not prevent Netanyahu from hatching a plot to overthrow the defense minister at this critical moment for the security of the state, and in the midst of a war that could expand,” he said.

He explained Netanyahu’s move as a bid to replace his defense minister because of his opposition to the Haredi conscription law that the Orthodox parties insist on, in exchange for appointing the head of the Right-wing Israel Party, Gideon Sa’ar, because the latter will pass this law, referring to Sa’ar’s volatility, who was previously quoted as saying, “If you want Netanyahu as prime minister, don’t vote for me.”

Hadar also denied Netanyahu’s followers’ marketing of the reason for Galant’s dismissal as a “weak leftist,” saying that Galant himself offered, just four days after the 7 October attack, to attack Hezbollah as a preemptive move, but Netanyahu refused, in a state of panic over the events.

The writer recalled that Netanyahu is the one who divided Israel by leading “an attempted coup against the judicial system that he created before 7 October,” and he is the one who brought upon Israel “the catastrophe of 7 October,” and now he is dragging another catastrophe by dragging Israel into a war of attrition.

He said, “Instead of waging a short and intense war, he chose a dangerous and failed war of attrition that goes against all strategic logic, and dragged Israel into the worst state it has been since its founding, because what matters is only the logic of political survival,” according to Jordan24.

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Israel no Longer Controls The Cards – Military Expert

Military expert Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid said Washington trusts what Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant says rather than the utterings of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Because of this, it will not allow his dismissal at this critical time after 347 days of the extermination war on Gaza.

Disagreements

Abu Zeid added to Jordan24 the ongoing disagreements between Netanyahu and Galant confirms the structure of the occupation army is eroding. It shows Netanyahu’s move to dismiss Galant is linked to the latter’s view there is a need to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu and the ruling right however, see stopping the military onslaught on Gaza now would be an unacceptable defeat.

The military and strategic expert pointed out “all indicators support the option of the dismissal of Galant infavor of the proposed alternative, which is the appointment of Gideon Sa’ar,” to take his place. But “if Galant, who has a military background, has failed to achieve any noteworthy achievement in Gaza, how will Sa’ar succeed,” he asks.

Changing circumstances

Regarding the possibile launching of a military operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Abu Zeid believes all circumstances indicate Israel is unable to launch a large-scale ground military operation against Hezbollah.

He added if it did so, it would be an ill-considered military adventure, noting the occupation army, after its major losses in Gaza, is now unable to launch a successful military operation “at least for the time being”.

Abu Zeid added that the statements of the head of Hamas Yahya Sinwar, confirms that the resistance, after 347 days, remains cohesive. This is in contrast to a state of disintegration shown by the media discourse of the Israeli military.

Can of worms

It shows the army in a complicated situation between a northern front it is unable to control, an intractable Gaza front and a new front in the West Bank that may lead to a security deterioration among Israel’s Arab population inside the Green Line, in addition to the Houthi penetration that has taken out Israeli deterrence from a distance of 2000 kilometers away.

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