'Go to Ireland or desert' comments do not represent Israel's policy, ambassador says

Vivienne Clarke

Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, has dismissed comments made last week by Israeli heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu that Palestinians should "go to Ireland or the desert".

Such comments did not represent the country’s policy, she told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show.

“There's no point in commenting on that. That was dismissed profoundly. He's not representing the policy of the government of Israel.”

Mr Eliyahu also appeared to voice openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza, where the war with Hamas is inflicting a spiralling Palestinian civilian toll.

Asked in a radio interview on Sunday about a hypothetical nuclear option, Eliyahu had replied: "That's one way."

His remark drew swift condemnation from around the Arab world, scandalised mainstream Israeli broadcasters and was deemed "objectionable" by a US official.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying Mr Eliyahu, from a far-right party in the coalition government, had been suspended from cabinet meetings "until further notice".

The ambassador told Pat Kenny that the comments and the subsequent controversy were “not something that we should invest our time [sic]”.

When it was pointed out to her that the comments had caused anger and upset in Ireland, Ms Erlich said: “Again, it's not something that I try to focus on. His remarks were completely… we objected that, we said that that does not represent Israel and I think that focusing on that is dividing us or preventing us talking about the real issue and this is what Hamas is doing to us and to the Palestinians in Gaza.”