H.E. Ms
Dana Erlich
Israel Ambassador to Ireland
Assumed office
August 2023 (2023-08)
Preceded byLironne Bar-Sade

Dana Erlich has been the Israeli ambassador to Ireland since August 2023, when she succeeded Lironne Bar-Sade.[1] She presented her credentials to President Michael D. Higgins at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin on 20 September 2023.[2] She has since been critical of President Higgins' comments on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, accusing him of "repeating misinformation".[3] In response to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's criticism of the "collective punishment" of Palestinians living in Gaza during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war she defended Israeli airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Gaza and said that Hamas is ultimately responsible for what is happening.[4]

On 15 November 2023 a Social Democrats’ motion proposing the expulsion of Ambassador Erlich was defeated in Dáil Éireann following a government counter-motion.[5]

Biography

Erlich is a native Israeli of Argentinian origin, and is a graduate in Political Communication from Tel Aviv University. She joined the Foreign Service in 2010 and her previous posting was as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of Israel, London.[6] She has also served in Costa Rica, the United States and as Israeli Representative of the UN Disarmament Fellowship Programme to the United Nations.[7]

References

  1. ↑ The Ambassador embassies.gov.il
  2. ↑ "New Ambassadors present Credentials – 20 September 2023". www.gov.ie. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Israeli ambassador to Ireland accuses President Higgins of repeating 'misinformation'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Varadkar accuses Israeli government of breaching international law in Gaza siege". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Motion to expel the Israeli Ambassador Dana Erlich is defeated in the Dáil". Independent.ie. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Meet the women leading Israel's Embassy in the UK". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  7. ↑ The Ambassador embassies.gov.il
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