National: 'Irish indifferent to Israeli pain' - Prime Time interview with Israeli President on RTÉ

Last night, RTÉ Prime Time presenter Fran McNulty interviews Israeli President, Isaac Herzog.

The exclusive interview addressed issues surrounding the recent ceasefire in Gaza, negotiations with Hamas, and the relationship between Israel and Ireland.

President Hertzog questioned what he said was Irish “indifference to the pain endured by Israelis”.  

The Israeli President has said that some Irish politicians are afraid to tell the truth about what is happening in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

In an interview for RTÉ Prime Time Isaac Herzog said, “unfortunately there are incidents where the political echelon is simply afraid to say the truth, and there are sources in your politics that don’t know the source of the conflict.”

They also discussed humanitarian concerns in Gaza specifically addressing the Israeli President's thoughts on the reported death of more than 6,000 children in Gaza since the beginning of the war.

Asked by presenter Fran McNulty how he would describe the death children in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes he said: “It’s extremely painful and I cry about it as well, we care about the Palestinian people.”  

Mr. Herzog disagrees with the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister who accused the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of losing his moral compass. Asked if he agreed with the views expressed by Eli Cohen, the Israeli President answered “no”. 

The President raised questions about Ireland’s approach: “We are looking at Ireland which is a very respect country and a great nation, and asking ourselves what did we do wrong throughout history that Ireland is so indifferent to the pain endured by Israelis.” 

In the interview, the Israeli President invited the Taoiseach to visit Israel, “I invite to Prime Minister Varadkar to visit Israel for the first time, we would finally meet him in Israel and I am eagerly looking at that.” 

Mr. Herzog was also asked if he considered Ireland to be a friend of Israel, he declined to answer but said: “I believe Ireland to be a very very important nation and country.” 

The interview also touched upon the ongoing inquest into the October 7th attack, shedding light on the latest developments and the President's perspective on the matter.