TAOISEACH MICHÉAL MARTIN has said he hopes a planned meeting with leaders of Jewish organisations in the US tomorrow goes ahead after reports that a number of groups have pulled out.

Tomorrow on his final day in Washington DC, the Taoiseach was scheduled to meet with “high level representatives of the US Jewish community”. 

The Irish Government has not yet made public what groups he was due to meet with.

However, according to the Jewish Insider, he was scheduled to meet with the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, B’nai Brith International and AIPAC. The Jewish Insider report states that these groups cancelled the meeting earlier this week. 

It is not yet clear if he was scheduled to meet with other groups. 

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter told the publication that any leaders who cancelled the meeting should be commended.

“It would show leadership. The battle for antisemitism starts with shunning antisemites,” he said. 

Late last year, the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that the Israeli Embassy in Dublin would be closed due to the Irish government’s “extreme anti-Israel policy”. 

Asked about the reported cancellation today, the Taoiseach said the meeting is going ahead, but there are “some indications” that some organisations “may or may not attend”. He later said, however, that he is “hopeful” the meeting will proceed.

He said the Irish Government is “very robust” in rejecting any “false” allegations of anti-semitism.

He made the point that the organisations reached out to the Irish Government for the meeting and that the Government was “very open” to meet with the groups.

The Taoiseach added that he was eager to engage with the groups in a “respectful way, in respect of our perspective on the Middle East and the conflict and the war in Gaza.”

“We’ve been very consistent in terms of condemning the horrific attack by Hamas on October the seventh, we called for the unconditional release of hostages from the very, very beginning, an end to the war and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said.

“I’ve had good communications with the Jewish community in Ireland, and I’ve had meetings and engagement with representatives there, and I intend to continue that, to make sure that there’s not a misrepresentation of Ireland’s position on this, or any deliberate distortions of Ireland’s position.

“Particularly in relation to allegations of anti-semitism and so forth, because I signed the IHRA guidelines, I signed the American guidelines in respect of anti-semitism. So we would be very robust in rejecting any false assertions to the contrary,” the Taoiseach said.

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