Arab News | Israeli FM compares Irish team to 1939 squad that gave Nazi salute

JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ireland of being “on the wrong side of history,” after the Irish football team wore black armbands for their game against Israel over the war in Gaza.

Ireland’s football association came under intense public pressure to boycott the Nations League match with Israel over the country’s conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza.

On Saturday, the squad held a vote over whether to play the match. They ultimately decided to go ahead, but wearing the black armbands “for all lives lost in the conflict.”

In a lengthy post on X, Saar referenced the Irish team of 1939 giving the Nazi salute ahead of a match against Germany in Bremen.

He also referred to Irish neutrality during the Second World War and the condolences offered by then-prime minister Eaemon de Valera to the German representative in Dublin following Adolf Hitler’s death.

“Almost 90 years have passed. Ireland’s unique talent for finding itself on the wrong side of history remains intact,” he added.

“Back then, they gave the Nazi salute. This time, they stand on the side of Palestinian terrorism.”

Support for the Palestinian cause is strong in Ireland, which recognised a Palestinian state in 2024.

The war in Gaza was sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,221 people, with a further 251 taken hostage in Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,900 people, according to the Gaza health authority, which operates under Hamas and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.