IRISH OFFICIALS WROTE to Ireland’s Honorary Consul in Israel 1993 to remind him that the Gaza Strip was outside his jurisdiction and he should not be “promoting Irish business” interests there.

The letter is contained in Department of Foreign Affairs files that have now been released to the National Archives under the 30-year rule.

Confidential government documents from three decades ago are released annually, providing journalists and historians with a fresh glimpse into historical events.

The correspondence in question was sent during a period in which there was full diplomatic relations between the two nations but two years before Ireland had an embassy in Israel and vice versa. 

Before the embassies were open, Zvi Levy served as Ireland’s Honorary Consul in Israel for over two decades and in a letter sent to him in December 1993 he is told by an official back in Dublin that his work was “commendable” and “considerable”.

However, the official also asked that any work related to the Gaza Strip or other Occupied Territories be directed to the Irish Embassy in Egypt due to the “territorial limits of your jurisdiction”. 

“I understand that in the course of your recent discussions with officials in this Department you had mentioned that you were engaged in promoting Irish business interests in the Gaza Strip,” wrote Francis O’Donoghue of the DFA’s Consular Services Section. 

“Your active involvement, particularly since the time of your appointment as Ireland’s Honorary Consul in Israel, is encouraging and promoting economic and trade links with Ireland has been commendable.

We are very conscious of the contribution you are making in that regard and are grateful for your considerable efforts. I am however obliged to draw your attention to the territorial limits of your jurisdiction as set out in your Letter of Commission.

He added: “You will be aware that your area of activity is confined to the territory within Israel’s internationally recognised frontiers and accordingly does not extend to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.”

The letter followed internal memos that expressed concern about Levy’s activities relating to Gaza. 

One memo sent to O’Donoghue said: “You will recall that we discussed the activities of the HonCon. I was concerned that he might be active commercially or otherwise in Gaza in a way which could give the impression that he had an official role there. ”

It added: 

Mr Fergus Cronin of the Irish company, Bowen, has informed me that he met him in Gaza and that the HonCon personally introduced him to the Mayor and municipality of Deir el Balah.

Mr Levi must have been aware of our concern because he told me that the last time he had been in Gaza was twenty years’ ago as a member of the IDF. You may wish to draw the HonCon’s attention to the limitations of his responsibilities.

Earlier this year, Levy published a book about his 25 years as the Honorary Consul General of Ireland in Israel, the blurb of which says he “worked tirelessly to create meaningful connections in trade and investment, tourism, culture, and political relations” between the two nations. 

Levy says the book covers the “critical period between 1992 and 1996, during which I led diplomatic efforts in the absence of an Irish embassy in Israel”.

Embassy debate

The wider file about relations between Ireland and Israel contains significant detail on the debates and preparations that took place before Israel’s embassy in Ireland was finally opened in January 1996. 

Among the reasons for the delay were concerns that there could be a “backlash” from Arab countries in terms of trade with Ireland, which dwarfed Ireland’s trade with Israel.

“Irish trade with Arab countries is at a ratio of approximately 10 to 1 in our favour and is mainly sourced from indigenous industry. It is 20 or more times greater than our trade with Israel and likely to remain so in present circumstances,” said one 1990 memo to the minister about proposals to open an Israeli Embassy in Dublin. 

The Minister would be seriously concerned at any backlash – at trade level – from Arab countries if this proposal were to be accepted. 

In addition, “security implications” in terms of the in terms of expenditure and garda time were cited as a “major consideration in the Government’s decision-making process”.

One memo from 1992 stated that security for an Israeli Embassy in Dublin could amount to £700,000 per year and that this would also “invoke an immediate demand that Arab States be allowed open Embassies in Dublin”. 

Fears about antagonising Arab states was also cited as a reason for the President of Ireland not undertaking a State visit to Israel, something which has never taken place. 

Belfast-born former President of Israel Chaim Herzog paid a State visit to Ireland in 1985 and some consideration was given to a return visit by President Mary Robinson before Herzog’s term finished in 1993. 

In a 1992 memo, it noted that such a visit would likely not be well received in the Arab world. 

“It might be argued that the chances of our incurring the Arab world’s displeasure by having a State Visit to Israel are slimmer than in the past but is it worth taking the risk? A State Visit is usually seen as a mark of a high degree of friendship between two countries and it would not go unnoticed in the Arab world,” the document states. 

[National Archives file reference: 2025/124/345]