Do you remember, in the days of yore, when an Irishman happily served as the President of Israel for a decade? Chaim Herzog, born in Belfast, raised in Dublin, was Israeli President from 1983 to 1993. Since then, Israel-Ireland relations have become, shall we say, rather dodgy.
The Irish population has been increasingly outspoken in their anti-Semitism, accusing Israel of apartheid, occupation, orchestrated famine, and genocide. Medieval blood libels circulate anew throughout the Emerald Isle even though there are far fewer wells to poison in these modern times. Of course with social media, the more outrageous the claim the more quickly it spreads. As of yet, Israel has successfully sidestepped blame for global warming, but who knows what the next accusations will be.
Never do we see marches or rallies in Belfast related to the horrors in Sudan, which is undergoing a true genocide and a real famine (approximately 400,000 dead from violence and starvation in the last five years). No one seems to care. Well, at least no one in Ireland seems to care. Similarly, never do we see angry mobs on the streets of Dublin protesting Putin’s unprovoked and seemingly flippant decision to invade Ukraine, causing the deaths of at least 120,000 people so far as Russian drones target infrastructure and residential apartment buildings. No Russians flags are burnt on the streets of Dublin as one would expect, given that Irish society is so sensitive and statedly appalled to all forms of perceived occupation and colonialism.
The Kremlin’s egregious and Stalinesque attempt to destroy Ukrainian culture, history, and language, to fully absorb the territory into Mother Russia and erase it from world maps doesn’t seem to prompt any notable mass objection from the Irish. Colonialist intentions and occupation of land while imposing the rule of law doesn’t seem so reprehensible anymore, so perhaps the IRA will stand down after all these years of English Protestant rule over Belfast.
This seems a bafflement, but it is easily and simply explained. The fact is Russian occupation crimes and Sudanese atrocities neither feed nor satisfy the ravenous appetite for Jew hatred and cannot be connected to the currently widespread anti-Semitism within Irish society. Equating British control over Northern Ireland and an Israeli military presence in Judea and Samaria is not just easy propaganda for the willingly ignorant but intentional misinformation that is mass produced into convenient short phrasing that’s perfect for signage and repeated bullhorned chants.
Ireland was quick to join with the ICJ in accusing Israel of genocide. Ireland is advancing a bill to prohibit the importation of all products from territories it deems “occupied,” specifically what is referred to as the “West Bank” and East Jerusalem. In the wake of the October 7 Hamas invasion into Israel and their grotesque and barbaric murders, Ireland thought to reward these heinous acts by recognizing Palestine as a state. The fact that Hamas clearly and unashamedly announced its intention of genocide didn’t matter. The Irish government thought this would appease the residents of Gaza and the West Bank and therefore put an end to their violent ways. It is not unusual to see Palestinian flags displayed inside and outside of Irish restaurants and pubs. Over the years, Ireland has given approximately 400 million pounds and euros to Palestinian causes straight from the pockets of Irish taxpayers. There never seems to be any demand to see the accounting and usage of the funds.
Rarely has a Western Christian country been so blatantly anti-Israel. There are frequent protests outside of Israeli owned hotels in Dublin and Belfast. It is not illegal or controversial for an Irish band’s live concert performance to have signs that say “F*ck Israel” on the screen while the band members wave Hezbollah flags on stage and spew vitriolic rap that would make Nazi skinheads mosh, stomp, and bang their heads fiercely against the stage to the point of blissful concussion.
It would seem these are challenging times regarding Israeli and Irish diplomatic relations, what with the removal of ambassadors and the closing of an embassy. It seems the BDS efforts are doing their damage and the misinformed, uneducated, hateful, sign-wielding, marching, screaming, flag waving, traffic blocking, kilt- and keffiyeh-wearing protesters who don’t seem to be employed, have emerged victorious. Similar to a food co-op in Brooklyn, Belfast will be bereft of Bamba.
But even here, one must be reminded, these appear to be minor squabbles. While diplomacy is challenged and protests are pervasive, real business continues.
With all this tension, there are strong reasons for optimism. It’s encouraging to see substantial deals being done by mature companies who share a strong and hopeful vision of the future. A vision that will transform the important field of cancer treatment regardless of where the technology was developed. Cross border investment and partnerships to build that technology will impact lives for the better.
In the wake of the October 7 Hamas invasion into Israel and their grotesque and barbaric murders, Ireland thought to reward these heinous acts by recognizing Palestine as a state. The fact that Hamas clearly and unashamedly announced its intention of genocide didn’t matter.
Last month, Tolmar Int’l LTD, a Dublin-based pharmaceutical company specializing in long- acting injectables in the urology and oncology fields has invested in and partnered with AlphaTau Medical, a Jerusalem-based Israeli medical device company that is developing injectable alpha particle radiation DaRTs for cancer therapy. Together they will market this non-invasive outpatient method for prostate cancer treatment that will hopefully ultimately replace the typical treatment protocols: surgery, chemotherapy, traditional radiation, or a combination thereof. These radioactive DaRTs are injected directly into the tumors, killing the tumors from within, with no damage to surrounding tissue. Patients can go home the same day with no real side effects.
Tolmar did their extensive due diligence and considered this a breakthrough. With the opportunity here for both technological advancement and commercialization, they invested $35 million now and committed up to $161 million if certain milestones are met.
It is reassuring that Israeli R&D, Israeli technologies, therapies, modalities, and patents will always bring pragmatic, carefully considered investment from any country regardless if anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, BDS traffic blockers need to be removed from the very same highway the management teams must drive on to get to the meeting to sign the investment documents.
So Ireland will lack good hummus from Israel, but sadly, I’m certain one day an unfortunate anti-Semite from Dublin will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and his commitment to boycott all products and services from Israel will be greatly tested. Let’s see if he’ll accept a highly effective, non-invasive, cheaper, outpatient method of treating it.
The Tolmar investment in AlphaTau is an example of rational, smart international collaboration and these deals will persist despite all the small-minded rhetoric and hatred simply because the opportunities for major advancement are too great. Israeli developments, innovation, and growth potential will continue to attract capital and it will ultimately squelch the attempts of BDS and its bullhorns.
