INCOMING TAOISEACH MICHEÁL Martin has announced Ireland’s endorsement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, a move that has been criticised by some in the Opposition for the broad scope of the meaning.

Martin, who is currently Minister for Foreign Affairs until the new government takes office, said the adoption of the definition will be “non-legally binding” while at the same time a method of “combatting antisemitism”.

The definition – outlined here by the IHRA – includes several examples that it seeks to guard against.

In his announcement yesterday, Martin said he was “deeply concerned at the current trend of a global rise in antisemitism, both online and offline”, which he said the Irish state would stand against.

“Ireland is committed to countering the scourge of racism and hatred and to promoting the values of equality, inclusiveness and the full respect of human rights,” the Fianna Fáil leader added.

“We will also continue our close relationship with the Jewish community in Ireland and ensure that their concerns are heard.”

Today I have announced Ireland’s endorsement of the non-legally binding Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/dO8OvehVMY

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) January 16, 2025

However, the move has been criticised by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy who argued that the definition is “discredited” due to how it “equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism”.

The Dublin TD said this risks it being used to “shut-down criticism” of Israel, amid the war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestine.

Debate over the use of the IHRA’s working definition

There has been longstanding criticism of the definition. In his statement blasting the government, Murphy pointed to an open letter in April 2023 from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights and civil society groups contending that the IHRA definition has “often been used to wrongly label criticism” of Israel as antisemitic.

The groups warned this could “chill and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism”, including in the US and Europe.

Murphy further noted that how the definition has been used has also been criticised by Kenneth Stern, a former director of the American Jewish Committee, who originally drafted the wording.

In its definition, the IHRA says manifestations can include the “targeting of the state of Israel”, but adds that criticism “similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”.

For critics, some of the more contentious examples of antisemitism include a contention that requiring of Israel “behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” could be “double standards”, and therefore antisemitic.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said this “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic anyone who focuses on Israeli abuses as long as worse abuses are deemed” to be taking place elsewhere.

Murphy, in his statement, said that the government’s measure would be hard to take for the thousands of people who have been protesting for over a year to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“On what basis has Micheál Martin taken this endorsement decision when a new government has yet to be elected,” Murphy added.

In his statement yesterday, Martin said that the commitment for Ireland to adopt the definition has been “expressed over many years”, including at the UN and the OSCE and as a member of the EU.

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