© MEMOIsraeli papers claim the move to close the embassy in Ireland is a budget issue.
The Irish have historically stood with the Palestinian people, with their popular leaders drawing parallels between the Palestinian struggle and their own.
Earlier this week, long-time supporter of Palestine, and president of the Sinn Féin party in Ireland, Gerry Adams called the International Community once again to recognize a Palestinian State. He called on his own government to upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission in Ireland to full ambassadorial status.
According to the Irish Times, the short-lived presence of an Israeli embassy in Dublin has been taxing at best. Israel's presence became official in Dublin in 1996, followed by drawn out stalemate regarding the exchange of resident ambassadors. Irish governments had several times been on the point of agreeing to the establishment of an Israeli mission when new attacks on Irish UN forces in south Lebanon by an Israeli-backed militia soured relations.
Relations soured soon after, and in in 2010, the government expelled an Israeli embassy official as punishment for the alleged use by Mossad of forged Irish passports to assassinate a senior Hamas figure in Dubai.
While political relations and trade have developed in the past two decades, the Israeli government regards Dublin as one of the most pro-Palestinian EU states and bilateral ties have often been strained.
Many in Ireland and Palestine are hopeful that the government of Ireland will make a Palestinian State declaration soon.
Comment: A budget issue, is it?
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