Irelands elites have found their new religion: Hating Israel

For proof that antisemitism destroys everything it touches, look no further than the Republic of Ireland.

Once a famously friendly country, wishing "A hundred thousand welcomes" to every visitor, Ireland now seethes with Israelophobia.

What went wrong?

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The extent of Irelands fear and loathing of the Jewish state was apparent in its soccer clash against Israel on Sunday.

The two teams met as part of the UEFA Nations League. From the minute the fixture was announced, Ireland was gripped by rage. "Why would we want to play against those genocidal lunatics?" asked Dublins keffiyeh-adorned chattering class.

A Maoist fury descended on the Emerald Isle. A campaign was launched – "Stop The Game" – to try to save "our boys" from the shame of sharing a pitch with Israelis.

Sportspeople, politicians, the media and the Dublin left clubbed together to demand the match be called off. Irish soccer players should not be made to mingle with "genocidal murderers," they cried, conjuring up a demented vision of the boys in green being set upon by wild-eyed Israeli players.

At one point, the keffiyeh mob gathered outside the Dublin hotel the Irish soccer team was staying in, barking through megaphones for the game to be stopped.

In the end, it went ahead. For security reasons, it had to be played behind closed doors in a neutral country – Hungary.

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Yet even at the game, the Irish couldnt resist landing a smug blow on Israel. The Irish players bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem. They wore black arm bands for those killed in Israels "genocide."

Worse, they refused to shake the Israeli players hands, as if they were morally diseased; as if you might catch the genocide bug simply by touching those people. It was churlish, narcissistic and profoundly unsporting.

Ireland has been consumed, head to toe, by the anti-Israel frenzy. Hating Israel is now the moral glue of the cultural establishment. They define their "virtue" through their animus for the Jewish homeland. The more you hate Israel, the more virtuous you become.

The mania is everywhere. The media is obsessed with what it falsely calls Israels "war crimes."

A recent analysis found that between January and May this year, four of Irelands main media outlets, including state broadcaster RTE, published 3,007 reports about "Israel-Palestine." Thats 20 a day. More than on any other topic.

The hate is rife in political circles, too. Politicians openly refer to the

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